A Fake Girlfriend For Christmas
by karlaakamsloki
Summary: "Look Darcy I'm sorry, I really am but I would really appreciate it if you did this for me." "Jane, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking me here." "I'm asking you to pretend to be my brother-in-law's girlfriend." "I'm sorry you must have me confused for a sales representative of girlfriends-r-us, please wait a second while I connect you to the right operator."
1. Chapter 1

**All mistakes are mine.**

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><p>Christmas wasn't a huge deal to Darcy, never had been thanks to some fairly awkward growing up memories where she was always the victim and never the aggressor. She didn't have many close friends, at least not close enough that she could trust them with her baggage and she was beyond grateful for that sometimes. It was a relief too because she could just go on vacation on Christmas without worrying about hurting anyone's feelings, granted her vacations merely consisted on going to her cabin and shutting herself in for a week without interruptions or worries but to her that was the height of paradise.<p>

This is why when Jane, her boss and sometimes friend, had asked her to give up her week in paradise for something some so incredible stupid and weird, she had actually taken a sharp breath and gaped at Jane like a fish.

"Look Darcy I'm sorry, I really am but I would really appreciate it if you did this for me." Jane gave her the best puppy dog eyes she could muster, Darcy had no doubt she had learned it from her sons.

"Jane, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking me here." Darcy, gripping her mocha latte tightly, asked.

"I'm asking you to pretend to be my brother-in-law's girlfriend."

Darcy gave her a look before picking up her hand to her ear as if to imitate a phone.

"I'm sorry you must have me confused for a sales representative of girlfriends-r-us, please wait a second while I connect you to the right operator." Darcy cocked her head to the side and hummed a tune.

"Darcy please." Jane gave her an annoyed huff before picking up her simple black coffee to take a sip.

Darcy merely raised her pointer finger as if telling her to wait, Darcy gave the charade of the phone call a couple more seconds before slamming down her hand on the table which nearly cause Jane to spill her drink all over herself.

"You're crazy, you know that? I mean who goes around asking their employees to pretend to be their…who is he again? Oh yeah your brother-in-law's girlfriend." Darcy had never even met Jane's husband though she knew how he looked since he was a famous American football player which Darcy found nothing short of amusing since Thor was Icelandic or something. Thor was a hunk and if his brother had inherited at least of half of Thor's good genes than by God Darcy could only assume he was nothing short of hot.

"Look, let's make a deal. You give me five minutes to explain and if you say no I won't mention again, what do you say?"

"Alright." Darcy picked up her latte and waved it at Jane as a sign for her to start. She saw Jane straightened her back and flip her hair over her shoulders she looked not unlike when she was about to start lecturing people about science.

"I want to make clear that the reason I'm asking you is because I appreciate you and because I consider you a good friend and because, well you took drama in college." Darcy almost made a note of protest since she had taken one year of drama in college and she barely did more than recite some lines on a stage, but Jane held up a hand to stop her.

"Yes I know you're only in there for a year but that's good enough for me, anyway Loki my brother-in-law is kind of... in a fight with his parents and well he's pulling all stops to piss them off. This includes taking a girlfriend they wouldn't approve of." Darcy made a sound of protest because she didn't have the world's most amazing or fascinating job but being Jane's research assistant was good pay and Jane handpicked her to be her assistant from a serious long list of applicants, so although Darcy wasn't a doctor or something she had a decent job and no one could take that away from her.

"Let me finish please. This would be were your acting training would come in." Jane took a deep breath and smiled wide. "I need you to be the most obnoxious, loud mouth, swearing, barely there clothing girlfriend you can be."

Darcy opened her mouth to give an incredulous 'what?' but stopped when she realized she had practically lost her voice, Jane was still giving her that wide, hopeful smile and Darcy cradled her face in her hands.

Darcy unsure what to say once again merely gave Jane a cold stare because it stung a little that she already was two of the things Jane mentioned without having to act.

"If you do it, Loki has promised a big Christmas present for you." Darcy saw the smirk in Jane's face when her cold glare turned to an inquisitive look. "And by big present I mean Loki is going to buy you-"

"A MacBook pro, the latest generation of iPad, iPod and iPhone. I do hope you find that to your satisfaction, Jane as told me how much you love Apple products."

Darcy jumped when she heard the voice behind her and turned around only to find a very well dressed man speaking to her.

She frowned when she realized he wasn't the mini Thor she was expecting and in fact thought Thor and Loki had very different coloring. Though she had to admit to herself, he wasn't any less handsome than Thor, just handsome in a different way.

Loki gave her an award winning smile and Darcy wondered if she could go blind from it.

"It is quite the pleasure to meet you. I have heard great things." He extended his hand for her to shake and Darcy feeling a little rude stood up to shake his hand and realized how tall he was.

He gave her hand a small squeeze and then motioned for her to sit again, Darcy waited while he seated himself to her right with Jane on her left leaving her trapped between the two.

"So what do you say Miss Lewis, want to be my girlfriend for Christmas? I would be forever in your debt." He gave her a warm smile but Darcy noticed the cold twist of it on the edges of his lips, as an expert of going through life faking it she knew how to spot the liars from the crowd with a ten foot pole.

"Darcy really we would very grateful." Darcy took a moment to stare a Jane who by now had the puppy dog look back on her face.

Darcy opened her mouth to ask about that Apple thing again because really who gives up the chance to get a new everything and not have to give anything in return, but the truth was she didn't like to get in the business of parents. The whole thing was still a touchy subject for her and she never got involved with anybody else's parental business, it just wasn't good for her sanity.

"It's in my experience that sometimes talking is good. Especially with someone as important as your parents." Seriousness wasn't her business, she didn't do emotions well. She had her sarcasm and wit and she was good with that, but once in a while even she couldn't help but take life seriously.

She received no other word from either of them but the no was clear in her voice. Having nothing else to say she stood up, gather her things and gave Jane an insincere goodbye before leaving.

She muttered to herself all the way to her car about stupid bosses and about how she better not get fired over this because as much as she loved Jane she would sue her ass. She angrily threw her things on the passenger seat of her car and got scared of out her wits when someone else slammed the door for her.

She opened her mouth to yell at the pompous ass but bit her tongue when Loki raised a finger; it wasn't so much the motion that stopped her but the tensing of his jaw and the incredibly pained look on his face.

Darcy could spot liars and fakers a mile away but that face was anything but fake.

"Listen to me, I do not have time the situation with parents to you because it is long and complicated and very twisted. I love my parents very much but the situation I find myself with them is very fragile and in my family we have our own way of doing things and the hard way is usually it. All I ask is for your help this next couple of days and then I won't ever ask anything else from you." He looked earnest and Darcy silently cursed the gods for being assholes for putting her in this situation.

"This is going to blow up in our faces, I hope you know that." She closed her eyes and laid her head on the roof her car and silently prayed to the gods she had just cursed to help her with Jane's crazy family.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to see Loki with a small grateful smile on his face.

"So how is this going to work?"

The first sign of her bad decisions had been painfully obvious when Loki told her they would be driving four hours to his parents' house.

Bright, early Sunday morning saw her sitting on her kitchen nursing a cup of dark, strong coffee waiting for Loki to pick her up.

She had been thankful he had at least given her a day to get everything in order, buying presents had been tricky but she had finally settled on some genetic, impersonal things for his family. Her clothes had been a whole other matter, Darcy was a creature of comfort which to her basically meant that she wore long sleeve everything and had only one skirt. She looked down and gathered her boobs were going to be doing most of the work anyway, so she wasn't worrying about shirts too much.

Once Loki had gotten there he had been a little surprise at her state of dress or rather at her short black dress. The dress wasn't all that inappropriate but it was a size too small and her boobs spilled a little, her legs showed amazing though and the opened staring Loki was giving her was worth the discomfort she knew was to come.

"Barely dressed right?" She winked at him and pulled her coat while he gathered her suitcases.

She was thankful for the flat winter boots, even though she held on to her black heels on the other hand, the heels were going to be a last minute switch and she hoped there wasn't any ice. It would be beyond embarrassing if she broke her ankle before she made it to the door.

To her surprise there was a big, burly man sitting in the front seat which she immediately identified as Thor and an excited looking Jane on the backseat. Thor gave her a friendly wave which she returned as Loki put her things in the trunk, his car looked expensive and slick and she hoped it had seat warmers.

Loki opened the car for her and helped her inside, grabbing her hand tightly as she entered, she frowned at the unnecessary gesture but thanked him nonetheless, and she could only assume the brothers had been raised to be gentlemen.

"Darcy! Such a pleasure to finally meet you." The booming voice of Thor surprised her a little but she gave him an awkward handshake.

"Thor has wanted to meet you for a while now, said he wanted to know the girl that drives me crazy and takes care of me all at the same time."

Darcy gave an awkward laugh as Loki started the car and started the four hour drive. She wondered where Jane's sons were though.

"Erik and Ethan?"

"Our kids are with Thor's parents already, they got to start a little early." Jane told her, Darcy had no doubt Jane was grateful for the small break before the chaos of Christmas.

"So… let's talk about the whole..." Darcy made a hand gesture to indicate the situation at hand.

"How obnoxious am I supposed to be? Any juicy things I can do to annoy your parents? Should I try my southern accent? What up y'all?" Jane hit hard on the shoulder while she giggled, Thor gave her a booming laugh and she could practically sense Loki displeasure at the whole accent thing.

"Drop the accent, don't over do it. My parents are… elegant and hold manners to a high degree, I'm not asking you to drop all manners but improvise once in a while. Simplicity is key." Loki informed her and he looked and sounded so formal she wondered if he had ever considered becoming a professor.

Darcy thought over his words and decided the whole manners thing wasn't going to last very long. There had to be a better course of action, thinking about it she could only come up with one solution and she gave Jane a long suffering look.

"Am going to be the clingy girlfriend who is also a gold digger aren't I?" She gave a sigh of resignation and dropped her hands in her lap in defeat.

Jane returned her look of suffering while Thor laughed in the front.

Darcy had never been the one for road trips but she couldn't have phantom on how much Loki and Thor fought. It was the most ridiculous thing to her because she was pretty sure these were two grown ass men going at it because of the music in the car, every time Thor changed the music Loki would reach over and hit him on the head and then changed the station back and turned it up louder.

Jane, bless her, was trying to keep her distracted by talking about work –which when did that ever help? - And her sons who were fast approaching their sixth birthday.

Darcy interrupted the brothers' fight over the radio to ask about her supposed sordid past with Loki, much to her chagrin nothing was really decided and she had a horrible flashback to her drama professor who told them to always be prepared no matter what.

Darcy hated how some things got stuck in her head.

By the time they made it, Darcy was exhausted of sitting in the dress and her legs ache from the non-movement. She debated abandoning the heels but they would complete the outfit so that was a no go.

Darcy barely had time to admire the mansion before Loki was parking in the front. Darcy took a moment to put her heels on and Jane helped her re arranged her dress and fix her hair and makeup, while Thor and Loki got everything out the trunk.

She was messing with her hair when Loki knocked on the car's window. Afraid of falling down she grabbed hard to the hand Loki offered her.

"Listen, heels and me? Not best friends so I'm going to hold on to you until they come off okay?" Loki nodded and Darcy gave him a small grateful smile.

She let go of his hand to put her arm around his waist, carefully underneath the leather jacket he wore clinging desperately to his deep green shirt. Because of his height Loki chose to put his arm around her shoulders and they carefully made their way to the front door, looking for the world to see like the love dovey couple they were pretending to be.

Thor and Jane waited for them by the front of doors, in what Darcy could only assume was a show of support and loyalty. Thor gave her a tentative smile as he opened the door and shouted he was home.

The hallway took her breath away, everything had a gold accent to it, dark enough to appear gold and dull enough it didn't overpower the eyes.

"The realm eternal." Loki jokingly said to her side and Darcy frowned at him because the joke was lost on her.

She didn't have time to ask him either since Loki came to an abruptly stop in front of the first door to the right, while Jane and Thor walked inside without incident Loki squeezed her shoulder almost painfully and stared blankly at the open entry way.

Darcy's heart churned painfully in her chest, she had known the situation with his parents wasn't ideal but she didn't think it would be this bad. If Loki couldn't even go into the same room with his parents then this whole situation was bound to make not only problems but complicate already existing ones.

She poked him on the waist with one finger and Loki snapped out whatever dazed he had gone into.

"Listen we don't have to do this, I can just be the inappropriate employee Jane took along." She gave him a reassuring smile and moved to let go of him but he kept a firm arm around her shoulder.

"No. we're doing this." He told her firmly as he walked with purpose into the room.

White and gold, that's all Darcy could see as far as the room, plush white couch and gold accents all over the place, a living room she assumed. Jane and Thor were on the couch talking to two small blonde hair boys she recognized as Ethan and Erik, they looked excited and very hyper and Darcy, behind the plastered smile on her face, cringed.

The other two people in the room, who she could only assume we're Loki's parents, a middle aged couple standing behind the couch. They both appeared regal, even though they both looked pretty dress down, slacks and a white button down shirt on him and a gorgeous red cashmere sweater on her. They could have been the cover of a magazine, except Loki's dad was missing his right eye.

They also looked nothing like Loki.

Darcy batted this thought away, she knew plenty of people who weren't the carbon copy of their parents, no reason why Loki shouldn't be one of them.

"Mother, Father." The chill on Loki's voice was so strong Darcy had to suppress a shiver of fear from running down her spine.

"This is my girlfriend Darcy. Darcy, my parents, Odin and Frigga." Darcy didn't want to let go of Loki since she could practically feel him shaking with anger, instead of shaking their hands like she was supposed to, she simply raised her free hand and waved at them.

She could see the growing anger on Odin's face and confused frown on Frigga and sincerely hoped they didn't hold grudges.

There weren't any hugs or manly slaps on the back like she expected, Frigga told the room at large she would be in the kitchen finishing dinner and walked out. Odin wasn't far behind her when he announced he had work to do, and without a second glance at Loki, walked out the door.

After a beat of silence, Thor was the first to speak.

"Well that went… well actually it didn't go well at all."

The arm Loki had around her fell away and she awkwardly let go of his waist, she could see he was getting depressed and she honestly hoped someone knew what to do because she had no experience with the guy and his moods.

"I don't know what you're talking about Thor because this is going to be super fun, I can tell." Darcy told him drily, before Thor could answer two very hyper kids finally noticed the present of their favorite uncle and snarky assistant.

"Uncle Loki! Miss Darcy!" She caught a blond hair boy by the waist and hugged him hard.

Although Darcy had never met Thor she had met his kids who she cuddled and got hyper as much as possible, they adored the fact she gave them candy right after lunch and took care of them whenever their mother was too engrossed in science.

"Ethan! You're here and me without my candies." She heard a groan from the couch and she laughed merrily at the sound. Out of the two little brothers, Ethan was the one with the sweet tooth though Erik enjoyed them too he mostly enjoyed the salty, sour candies which Darcy adored him for.

Ethan let go of her in order to hug his uncle who was currently kneeling on the floor hugging and making Erik giggle. Ethan assaulted his uncle and brother by jumping over them, Loki lost his balance and they all ended on the floor a laughing mess of limbs.

Darcy took note of two things, the first one was how fast Loki's mood at seeing his parents disappeared thanks to his nephews and the second one was how much she would've love to be on the floor laughing right along with them because it looked way more fun than standing there in an uncomfortable dress and heels.

Before she knew it Thor was on the floor too and the whole became a tickling war between small and big brothers.

She walked over to Jane and sat down next to her.

"Are they always like this?" She wanted desperately to take off her coat because she was steadily growing warmer but her dress, which she was beginning to regret, made her feel ever more uncomfortable with children in the room.

"No, sometimes they're worse. Last summer Loki convinced them to help him cover our house in toilet paper right before he took them for the weekend." Jane giggled in remembrance and Darcy laughed along with her.

The boys rolled on the floor a more a couple more minutes but when Thor dared his brother to a fight, Jane was quick to stop them and scold them while her sons giggled at the adults' misfortune.

"Loki why don't you show Darcy her room, she is still wearing her coat _Mr. Manners_." Jane poked Loki on the chest before walking to her husband and starting a lecture on manners and broken vases.

"I'm sorry about that, why don't we grab our bags and I will show you to our room." Loki motioned her to exit the room and put a hand on the small of her back to steady her suddenly wobbly legs because did he just say _our_ room?

To her surprise Ethan and Erik followed them, talking all the way to the stairs where Loki left her while he got their bags.

"Miss Darcy- "

"Erik I told you before you can call me Darcy."

"Darcy, is there really no candy?" Ethan's hopeful look made her crack a real smile.

"Maybe there is and maybe there isn't, I guess you little rascals will find out after dinner." She gave them a wink and they both gave her a huge smiles before running back towards the living room.

"And why not sooner?" Asked Loki, shouldering his own suitcase with her two big ones in each hand.

"Because I usually don't have to deal with the sugar high, there is no way in hell I'm dealing with two hyper kids. That's Jane's job." She kind of wanted to offer help with her bags, but she knew how heavy they were thanks to her over packing.

Loki laughed before motioning her to go up the stairs. She walked slowly, holding on to the wood banister, because her heels were not joke and they were already killing her.

The second floor was just as gorgeous as the first, Loki sneaked past her and walked towards the end of the long string of doors before reaching the last one on the left. He seemed to hesitate, but before she could ask if he needed help with the bags, he used his foot to gently open the already open door.

"Come on." There was a strange hitch to his voice but she didn't ask.

Loki was already opening his suitcase when she catch up to him, she ignored him in favor of inspecting his room.

"Holy shit." Was her first response to seeing the spacious room had grown up in, she shouldn't had expected anything else but she was still surprise at seeing the huge king size bed, the several bookcases around the room and even a sculpture in the corner of the room of a helmet with strange horns.

"Welcome to what my bro-Thor likes to call the lair of doom." Loki told her, sarcasm dripping from his words.

Darcy could see how Thor would think that. Dark green curtains that could easily be closed and envelope the room in darkness, the wood in Loki's room seemed darker than the polish wood from the rest of the house, almost like the room was taken from another house. It just felt different.

"Well, I like it and as your fake, clingy girlfriend my opinion should matter more." Darcy told him with a mock pout, Loki chuckled but didn't look up from his suitcase.

"There is plenty of room in the closet for your things as well, feel free to use as much space as you need."

"Right." She looked towards her two over packed suitcases and dreaded taking everything out, she wasn't tidy or organized and had she been at home everything would have ended on the floor rather than her drawers, or more likely everything would have stayed in the suitcases until she ran out of clean clothes.

Loki was still busy hanging his clothes, most of them looked like formal suits, and not paying attention to her. Darcy sighed and decided to get on with it.

Her jacket came off, along with her heels and then she was kneeling on the floor in front of her suitcases.

"You act as if you were going to war." Loki's amused voice came from behind her.

"I am." Darcy muttered.

"Than I shall help you." Before she knew it, he was kneeling next to her, rolling up the sleeves of his green shirt and opening the first suitcase.

She didn't even have time to tell him maybe it was a bad idea before he was staring at her underwear, the lacy purple bra she liked so much was front and center. Darcy barely had time to see his face before she started laughing.

"Perhaps I should not." He told her, over the sound of her laughter.

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><p>Darcy was torn between being grateful to Loki for helping her herd her clothes, and being pissed because he was so efficient it had taken so little time and now she had more time to spend with his parents.<p>

The heels were back on, Loki throwing her a sympathetic smile before grabbing her waist and holding on to her as they descended the stairs.

"Everyone should be in the dining room." He guided her past the living room, past a hallway that looked like it extended for forever, and into the dining room that was just as elegant as the rest of the house.

Loki's parents sat close together on one side, while Thor and Jane sat opposite them, Ethan and Erik were nowhere in sight.

Darcy wasn't surprised when all conversation stopped as soon as they walked in the room, the feeling of embarrassment in the pit of her stomach was totally unexpected though and made her feel faint.

"Oh, you were talking about us? Please don't let our presence stop you from your gossiping." Loki's sneer was nasty, Darcy couldn't help but turn to look at his parents who looked beyond disapproving.

"Babe, that's not very nice." Her whiny tone made everyone in the room cringe, including herself. Darcy realized with horror that she sounded exactly like her mom. It took her a moment of panic to realize that maybe it wasn't a bad thing, if her mom had been anything, it was a whiny gold digger.

"Apologies." He gave her waist a squeezed before walking them behind Jane and Thor's chairs.

"Jane tells me you're her assistant?" Frigga spoke before the silence in the room became uncomfortable.

"Yeah, she obviously realized how awesome I was when she interviewed me, I mean I'm pretty awesome. Babe, like saw it too when I met him at Jane's lab, it was like fate or something." The only thing she needed was to play with gum and she win best airhead of Christmas.

"Yes, Darce is pretty great." Jane sounded like someone was pulling the words out of mouth against her will, a feeling Darcy could relate to.

"So was Loki like super naughty when he was little?" She was willing to keep the whiny voice as long as the awkward silence didn't come back, her heels were killing but no one had offer them a seat and she had a feeling that was on purpose. Loki looked like he wouldn't sit even if they ask him to.

"He was very quiet, studious, and yes, very mischievous." Frigga's smile was warm, a little sad too and Darcy wondered if it was because all mothers miss the toothless smiles of their kid once they grow up.

"Yes, I misbehaved quite a bit, is a wonder why I was never sent back to the pit of hell I crawled from." Loki's tone was harsh and unforgiving, Darcy could only focus on Frigga's now crestfallen face.

"Brother, that is uncalled for." Thor was on his feet on a second, turning to face Loki with the same energy he probably used to play football. Loki's arm fell from her waist and Darcy knew this wasn't the play fighting from the car ride.

"Is it? Is it? I don't believe it is, dear _brother_." Loki's face was red with anger and Darcy was surprise at how fast the situation had deteriorated.

"Mother loves you and you will be respectful."

"I'm only here because you forced me to come, do not forget so easily Thor."

"NO, I DON'T FORGET HOW MUCH OF A CHILD YOU CAN BE LOKI."

"ENOUGH!" Odin's intervention wasn't much of a relief, the look in his eye told them he wouldn't tolerate this sort of behavior in his home.

Darcy wanted to crawl into herself, unwanted memories coming back to her, memories of much worse fighting in her own home.

Before anyone could say anything else, the two little rascals ran into the dining room and demanded lunch. It helped to break the spell they were all under, Frigga stood with a flutter and motion everyone to sit while she brought lunch out, Thor offered his help and Jane started to settle the kids in the long dinning table. Odin sat at the head of the table, while Loki motion her to sit next to Jane and taking a sit besides her, right next to Odin.

Dinner was a quiet affair, even the twins seemed to sense something wasn't quite right and only talked between bites to each other. Darcy didn't dare put up her act of whiny girlfriend mostly because she didn't want to be killed by Odin.

Jane kept patting her knee in support but Darcy could already see what a horrible mistake she made in getting involved, she knew things were bad because when kids fight with their parents is always bad, but not this bad.

She had practically walked into a prearranged murder scene.

Once dinner was over, Jane volunteered herself and Thor for clean up duties, the twins left to their own room to play and Loki's parents vanished somewhere else together.

"Loki." She spoke quietly, childish afraid that his parents were listening to their conversation.

"Yes?" His own voice was a whisper, he hadn't look up from the table not even when Jane took his plate, not to tell her thank you and not when his mom asked him to help with the clean up. His hands were on his lap, spread open on his knees almost as if he wanted to kneel and pray.

"We need to talk." Because she needed all the information, because she thought they would leave her out of the fighting, she was the gold digger girlfriend who's clueless. She wasn't suppose to care and she wasn't suppose to know.

Loki gave her an indecisive look before standing and helping her stand, they walked silently back to his room, where she knew she was going to get all the ugly details to a situation she wasn't suppose to be involve in.

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><p><strong>Probably the longest chapter, all other will be shorter.<strong>

**My personal deadline for this is New Year's and not Christmas, so it probably won't be finished until then.**


	2. Chapter 2

**All mistakes are mine.**

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><p>Darcy followed Loki back to his bedroom, a tightness on his back told her it wasn't going to be an easy conversation. She was drawing her own conclusions and they weren't pretty, but she thought she had it; the reason why Loki was fighting with his parents, or as the little evidence presented to her told her, not his parents.<p>

It all made sense in her head, the fact that Loki looked nothing like his parents, Thor looked very much like them but not Loki, she experienced it herself when she thought Loki was going to be a mini version of Thor not the dark hair guy that she wouldn't pick out of a line up to be Thor's brother. Loki's words of being sent back from where he came from, clearly the words of someone who thought they didn't belong.

Darcy was shaken out of her thoughts when Loki opened the door to his room and motioned her in, she didn't hesitate to sit on the bed and take off her heels, a sigh of relief on her lips.

Loki chose to sit on the leather desk chair, as far away from her as the room would allow him to go. He was flexing his hands, something she recognized as a nervous gestured because she had seen Frigga doing it while they were talking in the dining room. She had a fleeing thought that Loki would be a great argument for nature versus nurture before Loki turned to look at her.

"You weren't going to tell me." But then they both knew he never planned too, she was an annoyance for his parents, something to throw at their faces.

"No, but I wager you have already figure it out." Loki gave her a small bitter smile.

"No, it didn't take me that long to get it." She suddenly felt very cold, a numbness settling somewhere in her chest.

"It took me thirty one years." Loki was looking at the closed laptop on his desk, hands firmly planted on his lap. "Thirty one years of not...feeling like them, of being like them. I used to get looks from other people, they _knew_ and I _didn't._"

She always got an odd feeling when she remembered she wasn't the only one in the world who suffered, the few times she bothered to go to a psychologist she had mentioned the odd feeling and the kind woman had recognized it as shame. She had nothing to be ashamed of, not of her selfish feelings and certainly not of her own suffering so she brushed off that explanation and the kind woman along with it.

"I'm sorry." Because she didn't have anything else to say, what else could she say?

"It's a very odd thing to know your entire life is a lie." Loki continued, like she hadn't talked at all. "They were never going to tell me you see, they didn't want me to feel different but I am different, I'm not like them. I was meant to be their dirty little secret forever. But that's the thing about secrets, is it not? Secrets never stay secret."

She wanted to cry for him, felt it was the right thing but she hadn't found the tears to cry for herself in a long time and for more than she looked, she couldn't find any for him either.

Loki didn't say anymore, lost in his pessimistic thoughts.

Darcy knew now was the time to pull out, get out while she still could but she recognized some of herself in that sad, pathetic picture Loki painted. There would be repercussions when everything was over, when she was back in her own world, Loki would still be here facing his parents, on his own.

"I'm not leaving, I should but I'm not. I'm going to stay and help you." Her words seemed to shock Loki because he turned to give her a startled look.

"I...would appreciate it." Loki's face broke into a genuine smile and she thought it might be good for him to smile like that more often.

She decided that for the next couple of days that would be her mission, Loki's smile would be her number one priority.

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><p>Loki was kind of enough to close the blinds in his room and let her sleep, she slept in the uncomfortable dress because getting up and looking for pajamas sounded stupid when she was already in the bed, she did have enough thought to take out her contacts first though.<p>

She was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth when she woke up, she didn't remember covering herself with the comforter when she fell asleep but there it was, looking for the culprit she found him sitting besides her on the bed on top of the covers, laptop balanced on his knees.

Darcy watched him while he worked, he was close enough that he was only blurry around the edges and she could hear the tip tap of the keyboard keys, he was a fast typer and his long fingers moved elegantly across the keyboard.

"What you doing?" To his defense Loki only jumped a little at her question even if she thought he had to be more startled than that, Darcy let out a small chuckle.

"How long have you been awake? You could have just said so." There was still light pouring from behind the curtains, an unfriendly reminder that the horrible day still wasn't over.

"I just did." She moved to sit up and hissed when the metal in her bra poked her, she disregarded Loki's gaze as she undid her bra all while leaving her dress to cover the goods.

"Women have the neatest tricks." He said, once she had popped out the bra from the front of her dress.

"Hell yeah we do." She reached for her purse on the bedside table, fishing out her glasses.

She leaned back into the enormous pillows and enjoyed the sensation of a bed she would never be able to afford. She had taken her out her phone along with her glasses totally intending to check her facebook, but the bed was so damn comfortable she leaned back and closed her eyes again. Loki didn't say anything, he simply went back to his laptop the tip tap of his writing coming back.

Darcy found it super weird how comfortable this was, she wondered why there wasn't more embarrassment between them, deep talk aside the situation was unconventional to say the least and by all means taking off her bra in front of him should not have even crossed her mind. Yet, here they both were, like they had shared a bed a million times before.

"It is late? Did we miss dinner?" She asked, eyes still closed. If luck was on her side he would say yes.

"It's close enough to dinner time, however my pa-Odin and Frigga had a prior engagement with some of his business associates. So we are not expected for dinner." He hesitated with his parents names, and she wanted to make a comment on it but that would probably not be well received.

"Oh thank God, I don't think I could've survived more time with them. Odin has the whole scary pirate look down. Does that mean we have to fend for ourselves?" Because as much as she looking forward to not wearing the uncomfortable dress anymore, the thought of having to look through a stranger's kitchen was not pleasant either. She hoped Loki didn't expect her to cook for him.

"No, Thor is making dinner." Which if the apprehensive look sent her way was anything to go by, it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Darcy was able to change before Thor called them down, she sighed in relief when she took off the dress and switched it for some jeans and loose t-shirt, Loki told her to not bother with shoes since no one else would bothered anyway. Loki himself was only wearing socks once they descended down the stairs.

Dinner was more lively than lunch had been, though it wasn't that hard to top the frosty lunch. They ate in the living room, watching some corny cartoons since the two little devils were in the room and the food wasn't as bad as Loki made it seemed, Thor did confessed everything came out of a box though.

Ethan and Erik cornered her for candy as soon as dinner was done, Jane gave her a mock disapproving look but Darcy just shrugged before taking two jolly ranchers out of her pocket. Two jolly ranchers couldn't do that much damage anyway.

The time listening to Thor and Loki tell stories of their childhood was nice, Loki looked relaxed sandwiched between Ethan and Erik who looked at him with rapt attention as he told a story of the two little boys who broke a Christmas tree. Thor laughed from his spot on the couch as Loki's story continued to get more wild by the second.

The spell was broken at, ironically enough, midnight when the front door opened and two shadows passed in front of the living room from the dark hallway.

They all quietly said their good nights, Thor carrying a sleeping Ethan while Loki carried Erik, the two little devils falling asleep somewhere between the story of the spilled eggnog and the story of the evil snowmen.

She had enough time to claim the giant private bathroom in Loki's room before he came back, grabbing whatever she saw first in the drawer Loki had claimed was just for her sleepwear, god forbid she mixed them with anything else. She skipped the underwear, Loki and her were sharing the same bed but she liked to sleep in the nude and the shorts and tank top were a compromise to not make Loki feel uncomfortable, not that she would tell him he she wasn't wearing panties.

Darcy took her time in the shower, silently cursing herself when she realized in her rush she forgot her toiletries in the small carrying on bag on the floor of the closet. Having no option, she used Loki's shampoo and conditioner and thankfully they weren't too heavy on the 'manly' aromas.

Loki's bathroom had a towel warmer rack, something she had only seen in movies, but worked wonderfully well because the towel on it felt like a fluffy warm marshmallow.

Loki was on his laptop when she got out of the bathroom, sitting on the bed like he had before already dressed for bed, though he was more appropriately dressed than her in his pajama bottoms and white polyester shirt.

"Bathroom's free, but I still have to brush my teeth!" Darcy grabbed her bag from the closet and returned to the bathroom, taking out everything so she wouldn't have to shower with Loki's stuff again. Loki brushed his teeth as she settled her stuff around, for a second she felt weird invading the entire bathroom since she also had her make up, creams, hair accessories and appliances with her. Loki didn't comment though and she shrugged it off before grabbing her own toothbrush and toothpaste. She noticed Loki used a whitening one while hers was for cavities, she wondered if that meant something.

They brushed their teeth in silence, before Loki rinsed his mouth and walked out. Once Loki was gone she used the chance to finish her night routine and wash her face, she decided against drying her hair and went to join Loki in bed.

There was a sizable space between them, each at their own end of the bed. Darcy played on her phone while Loki kept on writing on his laptop, the tip tap soothing to her ears and drawing her to sleep.

She felt soft fingers brushing hers as her phone disappeared from her hand and the sudden warmth of the comforter covering her shoulders, and settled into a content sleep.

* * *

><p>She woke up first.<p>

The first hints of sunlight were peeking through the dark green curtains, drawing the room into a soft light. She could hear distant chirping and the soft giggles in the hallway from two little devils who were already causing trouble.

Loki was snoring softly behind her and she turned her body to face him, realizing too late that Loki was closer than he appeared. They were practically face to face, if she moved another inch she could touch his lips with her own, she felt the blush in her cheeks at the thought and squashed it away in favor of looking at Loki's serene sleeping face.

Darcy didn't know how long she stayed like that, just looking at him and praying Loki didn't move an inch closer. They were close under the covers too, his body heat reaching hers and making her body hyper aware.

It was a relief when Loki's eyelids started to flutter, something inside her warned her to move away but she stayed firmly where she was. During her Loki gazing she discovered she hadn't moved from her spot, Loki had and maybe she felt a little smug about it.

Loki looked adorably confused for a second, only backing slightly when he noticed how close he was to her.

"Morning." She gave him a cheeky smile, his cheeks tinted with pink and she tried to laugh at him.

"My apologies." His voice was hoarse, but he wasn't moving away and they just kind of stared at each other until little fist pounded at their door.

"Uncle Loki! Aunt Darcy! Get up! It's time for Christmas tree!" Two loud voices chorused, Darcy was confused at her title and Loki raised his eyebrows in equal confusion.

"What does a gold digger wear in cold weather?" Darcy asked much later, when she was staring blankly at her clothes in a complete lost.

"I'm told gold diggers are immune to cold weather." Loki told her with a smirk as he debated on his own clothes.

"Well fuck, I'm going to freeze to death then." She did have two outfits selected for the outing, one was another dress but that felt too much for going to have a kid friendly place. The other was skin tight skinny jeans and a shirt a size too small that would definitely make her boobs spill over. It didn't matter which one she wore, she would be cold either way.

She decided on the second outfit if only for the jeans and because it allowed her to wear her flat boots and she was taking her comfort where she could get it, even it meant being happy about shoes. She over exaggerated her make up like the day before, switched her glasses for contacts and curled her hair until perfect little ringlets fell down her back.

Loki was wearing a navy button down shirt and black slacks, he looked effortlessly cool and elegant, and warm. She might have been bitter about it.

"You look great." Were Loki's first words when he saw her in her tight outfit.

"I can't breath and I'm pretty sure my organs are squishing each other." She miscalculated on the shirt because it was too tight and she knew if she moved too fast she would rip it open.

Loki opened his mouth to say something else but shut it just as fast, he shook his head and motioned her to the door.

They went down the stairs together, by the noise near the door they were the last one to arrive. Ethan and Erik were jumping in excitement near the door, Thor and Jane were talking quietly and to Darcy's horror Odin and Frigga had their eyes planted firmly on her.

Loki had his hand on her back, moving up and down in a statement of silent support. Darcy sent them a big smile, Loki's hand never stopped moving.

Loki's parents stopped looking at her and she almost sigh in relieved except the shirt was making anything more than basic breathing a little hard, they rounded up Ethan and Erik and left the house in a flurry of disbelief and disappointment.

"Hey Loki, you're driving us today." Jane told him with a kind smile, she was wearing more layers and seemed prepared to face a blizzard. Darcy was, once again, bitter.

"That's alright, here." Loki helped her into her coat and she was grateful that is warmer than it looked.

"How you holding up?" Jane asked as they waited for Loki to pull his car from the side garage, Thor going back inside for his forgotten phone.

"Fuck Jane, what did you get me into? If I wanted this much family drama I would've stay home and watch all those crappy dramas in my netflix queue." The cold was seeping in through her coat and she already done with the entire day.

"My list." Jane said softly, guiltily if Darcy was any judge.

"What?"

"They changed it from queue to my list." Darcy was only a little surprised Jane would use netflix not to talk about the actual situation.

Thankfully Loki chose that moment to pulled up and Thor came out, closing the door behind him. Thor guided both of them to the car, opening the back door but before Darcy could get in he motioned her to the passenger seat. Before she could get go around and get in, Loki got out of the car and guided her to the passenger seat before opening the door and closing it after she gotten in. Thor did the same for Jane and then both brothers circled around the car to go to their respective spots.

She turned around to give Jane a 'what the hell' look but Jane just smile and shrugged.

"Was that worth the trouble?" She had to ask.

"Thor and I went to etiquette school." Loki told her, as he started pulling out of the huge driveway.

"Of course you did." Because of course two kids of influential parents would go to etiquette school, the only time she had been taught to be proper was when her foster mom would slap her hand away when she was trying to grab a cookie.

After that there was silence, but since she was in the passenger seat instead of Thor there was less fighting about the music and more fighting about the way the heater was too low. It looked like Thor and Loki always found something to fight about, but since she didn't have any siblings and therefore no frame of reference, she didn't know if it was because they were brothers or if it was just a Loki and Thor thing.

The tree lot was vibrating with color as little figures in colorful outfits ran from around the trees, the small parking lot to the side was full but they found parking thanks to the jolly man dressed as Santa Claus who was guiding traffic. Loki made her wait in the car as he went around to open her door, and she and Jane shared an amused look when Thor went around to do the same.

"Does he always do that?" She asked as the brothers circled around the car for a second time.

"Yeah, it's still as thrilling as the first time." Jane said happily as Thor opened her door and held out his hand to help her out.

Darcy could see what Jane meant she said it thrilling, because she been told time and time again that boys were suppose to be gentleman. The first time Loki had helped her she had been a ball of nerves, the second time she was amused by the whole thing, because people didn't do that anymore but now she wasn't nervous or amused, she wanted to see if she found as thrilling as Jane.

To her utter amazement, she did. It was thrilling when Loki offered his hand to help her out and he way he made sure to hold on to it while he close the car door with the other, and it was very thrilling when he moved the hand from hers to the small of her back and guided her to the front of the car where Jane and Thor waited for them.

A part of her, the feminist one, was upset at liking it but she decided to brush it off because the trip was hell enough, she was going to enjoy as much as she could of it.

"We must move before Ethan and Erik find a tree before we do." Thor looked intense and he was quick to pulled Jane to the entrance of the tree lot.

"What was that?" She asked as Loki walked them to his own pace.

"They have a competition with the boys, whoever finds the perfect tree first gets to decorate it however they wish."

"This isn't one of those cutesy things where you let them decorate it even if you win, is it?" Darcy could see Thor entering the tree lot, Jane stopping at the entrance to talk to a guy behind a wooden stall.

"Oh no, we are far too competitive for that." Loki gave her a smirk as they catch up to Jane, who seemed to be lock in a whispered fight with the skinny Santa Claus behind the stall.

"I know you have them in the back." Jane whispered furiously at the Santa Claus.

"Listen lady, I told you all the trees we have are out here. We don't hide trees." Said the skinny Santa Claus in a desperate voice.

"Jane." Loki said in a stern voice.

"Fine, but this isn't over." Jane dusted off her jacket and went inside to join Thor.

"And that was?" Darcy was beginning to realized that even the family by marriage was crazy, though she always suspected crazy tendencies from Jane.

"A desperate attempt to win the competition, Jane doesn't want transformers as Christmas decorations you see." Loki lips twitched but he held back the laugh he obviously wanted to let out.

"Who came up with this bet?" Even as she said it she knew her answer, because if Loki convinced the little devils to TP their own house he could convinced them of this too. Loki gave her a beaming smile as if to confirm her thoughts.

The tree lot wasn't big enough to miss Ethan and Erik hanging on their grandmother's hand, while their grandfather inspected a tree.

"Whose side are they on?" Darcy asked, noticing how good Frigga was at keeping the little devils in check. Loki was quiet for a minute before he answered.

"Not mine."

It was a heartbreaking answer, one that seemed inappropriate in a crowded tree lot where kids played among the happy adults. Darcy wanted to say something, anything empathetic rather than sympathetic but her own suffering was so different than Loki's that empathy wasn't an option.

She was saved from answering when Ethan and Erik spotted them and ran away from their grandparents to them.

"Uncle Loki, will you help us pick a Christmas tree?" Ethan and Erik asked together in perfect harmony, something Darcy still found creepy as hell.

"No, you know I'm not allowed to interfere." Loki told them, some form of forced cheer in his voice.

"Aww, please? Looking with grandpa is boring." Erik whined and Ethan nodded in solemn agreement.

"Well, I'm not part of this bet. I can help." Darcy told them, she didn't mind transformers as decorations. Maybe they would add a little flair.

Ethan and Erik cheered and each grabbed one of her hands to her to the trees, Loki trailing behind them. Darcy was enjoying the time spent with the little devils, her shoulders lost some of the weight she had given herself ever since she agreed to the whole charade and she was more than happy to kneel and whisper to the boys about the perfect Christmas tree.

The search proved more difficult than she imagined, it turned out that Loki had set guidelines to the perfect Christmas tree. It had to be at least eight feet tall but no more than ten, the perfect triangular shape was required, the bark had to be perfect and have no cuts in any way and Odin would have to approve it. The last one was the most difficult since there was no way Odin would approve a tree she chose.

Loki seemed content to follow them around as they looked, sometimes he would wander off to look at a certain tree but would come back closed mouth and empty handed.

Ethan and Erik became less cheery as time went on and Darcy knew they would have to find a tree soon or risk two cranky kids, she looked back at the tree she had been spying since they started their hunt and decided maybe it was the only one that would make the cut.

"My Christmas senses are telling me, that one is the perfect Christmas." She pointed to the tree and Ethan and Erik let out a cheer as they ran towards it.

"Have your Christmas senses ever been wrong?" Loki questioned her as they started walking towards the tree.

"Once, but in my defense I didn't know he was allergic to mistletoe." The kiss had been good even if the trip to the hospital hadn't.

Loki looked shock by her answer before he started to laugh, it was a pleasant sound and Darcy was glad to hear it. He gave her a look while he laughed and her stomach twisted into something good because of it.

The tree was fine, it was barely eight feet but by the triumphant yell Thor gave from across the lot, it would have to do. Loki called two of the workers and had them haul to tree to the front where Odin and Frigga waited. Thor and Jane standing next to a pretty looking tree.

Ethan and Erik ran towards their parents, happy words about their parents' tree leaving their mouths. Darcy smiled warmly because they were kids and everything was obviously a big adventure to them, which is why she knew that even if they lost the twins would still be happy to have a tree to decorate.

Darcy still wanted the twins to win though.

"Isn't like so pretty?" She said in a cheerful tone, big smile on her face. She could feel Loki's questioning gaze but ignored it.

"Ethan and Erik were so good but babe found the tree, like he just knew, you know? That it was like, the perfect tree and stuff." Loki had said they didn't care, but she was willing to bet they did care, maybe if it was just a little.

"Did you? That's great Loki." Frigga told him with a warm smile and Darcy was happy to be right, even if it was just for a second.

"Indeed." Loki put his hand around her waist and squeezed, an obvious threat that told her to shut up.

"I believe the boys have done a better job of finding us a Christmas tree." Odin said, in a tone that forbade any argument. Darcy wasn't sure he had even looked at the trees.

Darcy didn't dare look at Jane while Thor paid for the tree and while the workers loaded up the tree on top of Odin's car and she for sure didn't run for Loki's car after the tree and the little devils were ready to go in Odin's car.

"You're going to pay for this." Jane told her threateningly, once she was inside the car.

"I didn't do anything." Darcy said, buckling her seat belt and ignoring the fact that Loki and Thor were quiet about the whole thing.

"Babe saw, he just knew." Jane said in a mock tone of Darcy's voice.

"Jane, do you think maybe you're taking this too seriously?" Which she thought was a fair question, Thor muttered an 'uh oh' from the backseat and Darcy knew she was screwed.

"Do you know what's going to happen? We're going to get back and the boys are going to dig up every toy they have and dump it on that tree, and then you know what's going to happen? Every year from here on out, your _babe_ won't let us forget that one year we had freaking Sponge Bob as a Christmas decoration. And not even a Christmas Sponge Bob." Jane lost steam as she gave her mini rant and by the end she was leaning back, eyes closed and whispering the words in despair.

There was an awkward silence, only reinforced by the cheery Christmas song singing about family and friends on the radio.

"I was really hoping for transformers." Darcy said in mock sadness.

Jane groaned from the back and Loki only swerved once after he started laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

**All mistakes are mine**

**WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of abuse. It's not graphic but it's there so please proceed with caution.**

* * *

><p>Darcy could admit the Christmas tree did look a little weird, the little devils were persuaded to add lights and ornaments thanks to their grandma but they wanted as many toys on it as possible. There was a G.I Joe hanging dangerously low, a Superman doll rested between two nutcrackers, there was even a barbie dangling from one arm, she looked more like a sacrifice to Santa Claus than a Christmas decoration.<p>

There was even the Sponge Bob Jane had promised, taking the place of the angel at the very top of the tree. Darcy would never confessed to whispering in the ears of the little devils about where they could put it, no matter how many times Loki asked her.

There were no transformers though, her only cross to bear.

"Well, it sure is something." Frigga said good naturally, while the rest of them stood in various shades of horror and amusement and in the case of the little devils, total happiness.

"Something." Darcy confirmed as she took pictures with her phone, they were so going on her facebook and Jane was getting tag whether she liked it or not.

Loki stood next to her, satisfied grin on his face. A sight for sore eyes since Darcy didn't think he was capable of it in front of his parents, but there it was and it only got bigger when one of the boys would put another toy on the tree. Jane for her part was doing the best to be festive and encouraging as, Darcy assumed, a small part of her soul died every time a new pony was placed on the Christmas tree.

Odin was quietly sitting on the couch, watching something on TV. No one approached him to help and Loki would avoid even going to the same side of the room.

Lunch was a small affair of sandwiches and grape juice boxes, they all ate on the floor, minus Frigga and Odin who went to eat in the kitchen since they were apparently too good for the floor. Darcy could admit to herself that she was having a nice time, even if she had to talk in a whiny voice and there was a tension in the air that told her someone was going to snap soon.

"Brother, how about a friendly football competition?" Thor asked, eating the last of the sandwiches.

"Of course, it would be my great pleasure to smite you." Loki answered, already rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

They were both smiling to each other and Jane gave her an eye roll when Darcy turned to her for guidance, the little devils let out screams of excitement and ran for their coats before dashing through a hallway which Darcy could only assumed took them to the backyard.

"They all always do this, they'll dare each other to something and then Ethan and Erik get involved and someone always cries at the end." Jane told her with the exasperation of someone who had been through it many times before.

"One of the boys?" She asked as she and Jane put on their coats.

"No, Thor and Loki, I swear neither one of them know how to lose." Jane guided them down the hallway, through a mud room before they finally reached the back porch. Jane pointed to a table with plushy looking chairs and they both settled in, ignoring the yells of the boys.

"This house is like a labyrinth." Darcy said once she was seated, she regretted not asking Loki for a tour.

"Yeah, you should've seen me the first time I was here. I got completely lost. Tried to find the kitchen and ended up in the pool." Jane laughed at herself.

"There's a pool?" Not that she knew why she so surprised at that, at this point she expected the house to have a ballroom.

"Is on the other side of the house. You should see it, is so pretty and is indoors. We should go later." Jane told her with a dreamy smile, and Darcy remembered that in her younger days Jane was an active swimmer.

"Didn't bring a bathing suit and unless you're suggesting we skinny dip..." She let the question hang in the air because she had gone skinny dipping a couple times and it was pretty fun.

"I'm sure Loki would love that." Jane laughed and Darcy waved her off to hide the blush covering her cheeks. She would not think about Loki like that.

Darcy was distracted by a yell, Thor had apparently gotten control of the ball and was running for all he was worth. Loki was running behind him, catching up fast thanks to his long legs, the two little devils waited for his dad at the end of the what she assumed was the goal post, held together by two wooden sticks. Loki tackled Thor and they went both down together, a mess of limbs.

"Careful!" Jane screamed when Ethan and Erik decided to join the fray.

"Do not go near my petunias." Frigga chose that moment to opened the door, arms loaded with a tray. The boys were good in answering because all four of them immediately stood up in attention and went back to their game, staying away from the plants and flowers.

"I brought some tea, if you girls would be interested." Frigga gave them a kind smile and Darcy started to feel a small amount of guilt for the lies she and Loki were telling.

Which is why she stayed quiet as Jane and Frigga talked about unimportant things, Darcy had plenty of places to jump in and make inappropriate comments but Frigga was being so good nature she just couldn't do it.

Loki seemed to sense her withdrawal because when he came to drop off the little devils' coats, he went around the table where she was seated uncomfortable between Jane and Frigga and gave her a firm kiss on the cheek.

"You're alright." He whispered in her ear, she stopped the shiver from traveling down her spine because of his voice but she couldn't anything much about the nice feeling of being cared for. Which is what her head reminded her Loki wasn't doing, it was all about making his mom uncomfortable.

"Ew! Get off, you're gross!" She said in her stupid, whiny voice. Though he wasn't because the air was nice and crisp, and not one flake of snow had fallen on the ground which meant the dirt was dry. Loki also seemed immune to getting dirty because his shirt and pants still looked as impeccable as they did when he was getting ready that morning.

"You love it." He gave her a smile before he gulped down some of her tea and went back to play.

"The loveliest thing about you being here is my son being so carefree." Frigga told them, Darcy knew she was talking about her because Jane turned a little too fast to look at Frigga before she felt Jane's eyes on her.

Darcy was apprehensive about Frigga's statement, there have been no resentment in her voice but she didn't look ecstatic about it either, it was a simple statement of fact. Darcy had never met Loki before, she didn't know what he was like in a day to day basis, she didn't know his favorite foods or his favorite shows, what made him sad or angry, or his reactions to things, she just knew he wasn't okay. She didn't know he wasn't care free before. Darcy didn't know why he would be carefree with her, didn't know why she would be responsible for something like that.

It made her already heavy shoulders feel even heavier.

She turned just in time to see Thor throw the ball at Loki, only for Loki to jump and miss it, the ball kept flying until it finally crashed with a window. The sound of the glass breaking made her wince, the silence after it made her queasy even though she didn't know why and the nervous giggle from Jane got her confused.

"That's Odin's study." Frigga said, in what Darcy could only assume was a resigned voice. Darcy was about to ask the obvious question when Odin himself answered it for her.

"THOR! LOKI!" The angry scream did indeed come from the same room with the now broken window, Darcy winced in sympathy when Thor and Loki turned around to look at each other in fear.

"It was Jane!" Thor yelled back in what was an obvious attempt to save himself.

"It was Darcy!" Loki said right after him, a gleam in his eye said he wasn't going down without a fight.

Darcy and Jane looked at each other in amusement, because there was no way Odin was going to believe that.

"THOR! LOKI! IN MY OFFICE! NOW!" Darcy didn't think Odin could sound any louder but he somehow accomplished it.

Loki and Thor walked back to the porch in defeat, the two little devils following behind them in glee. There was something to be said about grown ups getting in trouble and Darcy suspected that the little devils got into too much trouble not to enjoy when someone else walked the plank besides them. One of the them, being their dad probably made the situation even more hilarious to them. The other being their uncle, who was probably responsible for most of their punishment as it was.

The boys were probably bathing in happiness.

"Good luck with your dad." Jane said in encouragement, it was an innocent enough statement except Loki stopped walking to look at Jane, whatever amusement there had been in Loki's demeanor was now gone and instead he seemed to draw into himself. The exchange only lasted a couple of seconds but when Loki turned back to follow Thor his footsteps were louder and the way his fist clenched told Darcy whatever moment of peace they had that day was gone.

* * *

><p>Jane had been quick enough to drag the boys into their room in the second floor, far away from Odin's study in the first floor. Frigga went into the in kitchen, to start dinner preparations but Darcy knew she was escaping the incoming explosion just as Jane had but Darcy had opted to sit in the bottom of the staircase instead and listen to the fighting.<p>

"_What do you want me to say Loki? That I regret you?!"_

A decision she could, to her horror, explain because she had done a million times when she was a kid, when she used to hide and listen to her parents fight in their drunken stupor about who got to hit her first.

"_You should! I do! What was I for? Publicity?! Adopt the little orphan? Make the business look nice and wholesome?! TELL ME!"_

It hadn't been nice or kind but for a long time it was all she knew before her parents killed themselves crashing into a pole before killing her with a belt instead, so in a way the fighting was almost _comforting. _

"_You are my son! I will not have you believing anything else!"_

She hated herself for even thinking it.

"_This is mother's house! You will respect it!"_

Thor was right, this was Frigga's home but she was hiding in the kitchen, or maybe Darcy was wrong and she wasn't hiding. Maybe she had this fight many times before and she was tired of it, tired of going around in circles with Loki.

"_What you're going to do Thor?! You wanted me here! You wanted to pretend like nothing's happened! Well something has! I will not apologize if it taints your perfect image!"_

Loki who was proving to be more bitter than she originally thought, the hurt was there too but Loki had clearly chosen to be angry about it instead. It was a good strategy, one she would have gone for herself if she hadn't been so grateful to get out of the hell she called a childhood.

"_You're my brother! I want you here!"_

The foster homes had been nice, much nicer than she expected. She had been lucky that way, she knew not all foster homes were good but hers were and she would be grateful for it for as long as she could be.

"_You're not my brother! You never were!"_

She had adjusted well, she loved her foster parents, the new school had been nice and she finally found friends that wouldn't have to ask about the bruises on her arms or the burn marks on her legs. The fear never really went away though, sometimes she would wake up and curled up into a ball and sob in fear and even as she grew up the fear never really left and the nightmares sometimes came back.

"_You're a fool! A fool for believing that!"_

The day Darcy turned eighteen a lawyer came to give her a check, a deed for a house and a cabin, the amount on the check was for her parents' life insurance. Something she didn't know existed and the amount was big enough for her to not worry about paying for anything else in her life for a long while, including college.

"_Am I? Am I fool?! Yes, I am a fool! A fool for not noticing the lies sooner!"_

Seeing the deed to the house she grew up in gave her a panic attack but the lawyer had been kind and waited while she felt a little better, she took the first choice he gave her and sold the house.

"_We did not lie, we merely protected you from feeling different."_

The cabin had been a complete surprise, she had never heard of it before and she didn't know her parents had enough money to own a cabin in the middle of the woods. She was going to sell that too before the lawyer told her to think about it, so she thought about it long and hard before going to see it. The cabin was big and spacious, in decay from the years of neglect but traces told her how it had probably been a party destination for her parents and their friends. The cabin was beautiful though and she felt compelled to strip it of its' dusty layers and make it her own.

The yelling stopped.

Darcy opened her eyes when she heard the door opening, she caught a glimpse of blond hair as Thor ran up the stairs next to her but he didn't say a word. Her eyes shifted to Loki who was standing in front of her, looking at her. His eyes were red but there were no tears and Darcy didn't know if that was good or bad.

Loki's face turned dark before he stalked up the stairs without a word.

She thought of following him, of providing a shoulder to cry on but Loki didn't look like he wanted to cry, he looked like he wanted to rage and break things. Her own destruction had been painful, she didn't need to see his too.

Instead she got up and started walking around the house, looking for the pool Jane had mentioned. The house was like a maze, there was so many twists and turns and to her pleasure they even had a library and while she would love to sit and read, she was anxious and wanted to move.

When she finally found the pool she was happy to see how not fancy it was, it was just a rectangular pool inside a room with tall windows. There were showers on the right side with a rack of towels and small tubes of things like shampoo. The left had plush chairs and a couch to relax on, across the pool were plants for decoration.

She took a deep breath after taking off her tight shirt, her boots and pants were easier to take off and she only hesitated a second in her bra and panties before diving into the pool. The water was warm and she stayed underwater for a second to enjoy it before going back up for air.

She ran her laps slowly knowing full well she wasn't in the shape for something faster, usually her way of coping with hard stuff was to snack on junk food and watch lifetime but she couldn't do that here and the water was so warm and nice she didn't mind the change.

The sun was setting when she finished her spontaneous workout, her arms and legs were sore but she was still inside the pool, leaning her arms on the edge of the pool to watch the sunset through the tall windows. The water was still warm and as the sun went down the lights inside the pool got brighter.

"Should I hope you're not naked in there?" An amused voice told her from the entrance of the room and Darcy turned to a see a smiling Loki.

"No skinny dipping for me today." She tried for funny but her tone fell flat.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, I thought perhaps you ran away." His voice was teasing but his nervous demeanor told her maybe he did think she left.

"Not today." This time her tone was a little more lively.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" Darcy thought she saw him wince as he asked but it was probably just a tricked of the changing lights.

"Go for it. The pool is big enough for the two of us." She answered back, the flutter of butterflies starting in her stomach.

Loki stripped of his clothes, not looking at her. Darcy hadn't seen him shirtless yet and was more than pleasantly surprise when she noticed muscles on his lithe body.

She returned around to looked back to what was left of the sunset, she tensed slightly when she felt the water move and stayed firmly in place when she saw Loki from the corner of her eye. He mimicked her position next to her and Darcy was hyper aware of his elbow touching hers.

"Do you want me to ask?" She didn't know his boundaries, if the fight she heard taught her anything is was that she really had no clue about what was going on with him and his family. Just because Loki confessed his secret it didn't mean she knew anything about it.

"Why? You heard it." He didn't sound angry, which was already a step in the right direction.

"Yeah." Was her whispered answer, a hint of shame in her voice. Darcy knew it was wrong to hear even if her own selfish reasons made her do it anyway.

"It's of no consequence. It doesn't matter." He adopted his own whispered response.

"You know, I don't think I even know what you do? Or what your favorite color is? Or the way you like eggs? I I need to know the way you like eggs because it could made or break this fake relationship." Suddenly it was important to her to know his life, because if she knew his secret then she wanted to know the everything else.

Loki chuckled, shaking his head before turning to give her a look of amusement.

"I run Asgard Industries, we focus on medical equipment. My favorite color is green and eggs Benedict are my favorite. And what about Darcy Lewis? What's her favorite color? How does she like her eggs?"

"You can't make me pick a color, they're all pretty. My favorite eggs are sunny side up with lots of ketchup." She swam back, trying to put some space between them. Being so close to Loki was making her a little dizzy.

"Even black and white?" Loki raised an eyebrow at her.

"Especially black and white, under appreciated colors in my opinion. Wait, you work for your dad?" Which added a whole new level of fucked up to the entire thing because if this was affecting his personal life than it was probably murdering his professionally one.

"He's the CEO and I'm COO." Loki started swimming towards her and she swan back a little more.

"So he's your boss, damn." Because what else could she say to that?

"My sentiment exactly." Loki looked like a man in a mission as he kept slowly swimming towards her, Darcy kept moving because she realized what would Loki would do if he caught her.

"What else about Loki?" She asked him as her arms and legs carried her around the pool, away from Loki.

"Loki would like for you stop running away from him." There was something in his eyes that she couldn't place but it made her very excited.

"Why? What's Loki going to do?" Darcy asked just before Loki lunged for her, in desperation she sank down and swam around him.

They kept playing like that for awhile, Loki trying to catch her and her paddling or swimming away. Loki became a little more lively as they kept playing, a pink tint to his cheeks every time she let him close enough to touch her before she swam away.

A part of her didn't want to play the game, the part that knew that it was all a lie and nothing good could come off of it. The other part told her to throw caution to the wind, to embrace the fact that she was attracted to Loki.

The thought hit her hard and she stopped swimming long enough for Loki to crash into her. Loki was quick to grabbed her before she could run away.

"Careful." He said as he started running his hands up and down her arms, she let him guide her to the edge of the pool and she leaned against it, closing her eyes and waited for the inevitable kiss.

It never came.

"Do not miss dinner again, it upsets your mother." Odin was standing by the door, his tone cold and unforgiving.

Darcy tried to push Loki away, embarrassed over being caught like a pair of horny teenagers but Loki simply put a hand on her waist to keep her in place.

Suddenly she became aware of everything, like the fact her bra was becoming too uncomfortable, her contacts were burning her eyes and the water had a coldness to it that it didn't before.

"Noted." Loki said back drily and Odin nodded his head stiffly before leaving.

Darcy tried to push Loki away again and this time he let her go, she quickly scrambled to the steps and left the pool, grabbing one of the towels and hastily drying before putting her clothes back on. She didn't look at Loki when she heard him get out of the pool as she made her way to the door, or when he called her name.

She kept walking until she reached the bathroom in Loki's room and tried to think long and hard about what the hell she was doing.

She didn't need a broken man, not when she was already broken herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**All mistakes are mine.**

* * *

><p>Darcy didn't look at Loki when she left the bathroom, didn't look at him as she settled into bed and closed her eyes as she ignored him and by default as he ignored her.<p>

Neither of them spoke a word, no one apologized and no one explained what had happened in the pool. If she had been forced to explain then Darcy was hard pressed to find something to say, it was nothing more than a game of tag inside a pool, but Loki didn't look like he was playing.

She slipped out of bed once Loki's breathing settled into a pattern, her bare feet carried her quietly down the stairs and through the living room to find the kitchen.

In the darkness of the room she could pretend she was in her cabin, where nothing bothered her and she could just breath. She couldn't breath properly in the big house, it was suffocating to be there, to pretend to be someone she wasn't. It was also, though she didn't want to admit it, hurtful to realized how things weren't black and white with Loki and his parents and how wrong it probably was to agree to Loki's scheme.

She had a sneaky suspicion Loki was loved. So then why was he so angry?

Darcy pretended to still be in the safety of her cabin as she looked for a glass to drink some water.

She leaned against one of the cabinets as she slowly sipped her water, trying to catch a moment for herself.

The moment didn't last long before she heard hurried footsteps and frantic whispers coming from the other side of the door. Cursing to herself, she looked over the kitchen for a place to hide and found a door to a walk in pantry, finding no other option she stepped inside and closed the door.

She stepped away instinctively as light sipped from the bottom of the door, shadows moving on the other side. The pantry was big enough for her to move a couple of steps but she stayed stock still trying not to make noise.

"What is the point of this? To punish us?" It was Odin's angry voice that met her ears first.

"Loki is very hurt, he's finding his own way to cope." Frigga's voice was soothing, Darcy could almost picture her putting her hand on Odin's shoulder in comfort.

"Bringing some..._trollop_ to our home is his way to cope?" Darcy was only slightly insulted but that because it took her a second to processed that Odin had said trollop.

"Darcy is not so bad." Frigga's tone was dubious and Darcy couldn't blame her for it.

"The way she dresses would suggest otherwise." It was nice to see Odin knew two different ways to call her a slut.

"We have wronged him Odin. We have lied to him for so long he no longer knows what the truth is." Frigga's voice sounded so heartbroken, it was hard to listen too it.

"We did it to protect him, I refuse to apologize for protecting my son." Odin's voice didn't speak of pain like Frigga's did but there was something there that screamed of it.

"Oh my love." Frigga sounded near tears and the small part of Darcy's heart that she still had, broke a little more for her.

Darcy heard movement, two bodies getting close enough for a hug.

There was a moment of silence before Odin spoke again.

"Her presence still concerns me, she does not speak kindly or behave like a lady should. I'm highly skeptical of how she gained the trust of someone like Jane, worst still I'm unsure how Loki could look at her with more than contempt, not after so many women like her have tried to entice him, only for him to strike them down. She is beneath him and yet..."

"And yet?"

"And yet Loki looks at her like she hung the moon."

* * *

><p>Loki was the first one to get up the next morning.<p>

Darcy lay in bed as he moved around getting ready for the day, she was still thinking of Odin's words. They were dangerous words, she couldn't take them too seriously, after all she and Loki hadn't known each other for more than a week.

She decided to ignore them for now.

"Are you getting out of bed? We do have things to do." Loki appeared at her side, perfect brows furrowed in concern.

She knew the schedule, a full day at the mall with two hyper little devils. It sounded like a nightmare.

"I don't feel so good." And she really didn't, there was something in the air that told her to stay in bed and ignore the crazy family.

Loki opened his mouth, the look in his eyes turning into something she couldn't pinpoint and she prepared for the scolding but just as quickly Loki's face cleared and he sighed in defeat.

"Why don't you stay in today and rest, I'll tell the everyone you're indisposed." Loki walked briskly back to his closet, obvious tension on his shoulders.

She wondered if his anger was about what happened between the night before or the fact she wasn't playing along today. Either way she felt she needed to make it right before he left.

"Loki." She winced at her breathless tone, but continued when Loki turned to look at her. "I'm sorry, I know I'm here to help you but I just feel like I need a few hours to myself."

"Is this about yesterday?" Loki asked as he stepped back towards the bed and sat gingerly next to her.

"Yeah, I'm still mad about the transformers." She had a perfect view of his profile and she moved a tiny bit so her stomach touched his back.

"You know what I'm talking about." Loki shook his head but he at least cracked a smile.

"You didn't do anything wrong yesterday. I just...I'm not used to being with people like this, I'm not used to pretending I'm Anna Nicole Smith for the holidays." Maybe they shouldn't have been swimming around almost naked, and it got a little too intense for her and it was screwing with her head more than she would like.

"I'm being selfish, aren't I? I'm sorry." The self hatred in his voice made her want to hide under the covers but before she could do it, Loki was standing up and moving back to his closet.

"You're not selfish, just hurt." She whispered, mostly to herself because she was sure Loki wouldn't hear her.

"I'll see you in time for dinner, feel better." Loki moved back to the bed, hesitated for a second in front of her before he bent down to lay a kiss on her forehead.

Darcy didn't get a chance to question him on it before he was running out the door. She put her hand to the spot he had kissed and tried to rub the tingling away, which was very fairy tale and it made her stomach twists into painful knots but just like she had decided to ignored Odin's words, she would ignored the sweet kiss too.

She waited ten minutes after she heard them leave to get up and head downstairs, she did stop to put on some underwear though and switch her glasses for contacts just in case someone came back sooner than expected.

Darcy headed to the kitchen first, trying to hunt down some snacks. She knew they had some hidden away for the boys, mostly they were suppose to be used as treats for good behavior but Jane usually just gave them to her since good behavior wasn't actually a thing that happened.

Jane's stash was nowhere to be found, there was a chance they were hidden in Jane and Thor's bedroom but she felt uncomfortable going in there without permission. Odin and Frigga seemed to only keep healthy snacks in their pantry, which was no good because she was not about to eat veggie chips.

Thankfully, after a long search, she was able to find some popcorn at the very back of the pantry, it was plain but it wasn't something a little salt couldn't fix.

While the popcorn pop in the microwave she grabbed some apple juice boxes from the fridge and some strawberries because she had to get her sugar fix from somewhere, it wasn't the breakfast of champions but it would have to do.

Loaded with her snacks she looked for the entertainment room she had found the day before while on her hunt for the pool, it wasn't too far from Odin's office and the TV was huge.

Once she was inside the room, some things jumped at her like the pool table on the corner and the old school arcade games lining the back of the room. She would get to those soon but first she had a movie to watch.

Finding Lifetime on the thousands and plus channels was a hassle but she managed and she settled back into the couch as the credits started rolling and crappy Christmas music started to play.

Her obsession with crappy Christmas movies was something everyone she knew made fun of but the movies were harmless bits of fluff that made her feel like a normal human being, there wasn't anything wrong with enjoying something for the hell of enjoying it.

She was muttering the words since she had seen the movie enough times to have the dialogue burned into her brain but she was distracted enough by it that she didn't catch the person coming into the room.

"This is unexpected. I was led to believe you were sick." Darcy choked on the bit of popcorn she was swallowing when she heard the voice speak.

She coughed roughly into her hand as Odin moved to sit next to her on the couch.

"I must say I'm quite puzzled by your attired." Odin was looking her up and down and she could see how he was confused, the winking duckies on her loose pajamas didn't exactly scream gold digger.

"Christmas present. Jane, last year." Darcy said through her coughs.

"Ah, yes of course." Odin put a plastic bag on the coffee table in front of the couch, filled to the brim with snacks.

Her mouth watered.

"Are those funyuns?" The bright yellow bag was taunting her, calling her name, begging her to eat them.

"Yes, would you like one?" Darcy thought he was offering out a some kind of moral obligation to offer but she didn't care what it was as long as she got one.

She might have moaned when she bit into it but in her defense all the food Frigga cooked for them was healthy, even the sandwiches the day before had been made with wheat bread. She was a chips and salsa kind of girl, brussels sprouts just wouldn't cut it.

Odin was giving her an amused look when she turned back to him, she was only mildly embarrassed because it wasn't _her_ sneaking unhealthy snacks into the house.

"What are you watching?" Odin's snacks and his early returned made her think that maybe their day plans had been similar.

"I forget the name, I think it's 'A boyfriend for Christmas'." Darcy had a feeling they both knew she was lying, there was no way she didn't know the name after reciting the dialogue like a third's graders poetry.

"I believe I have seen this movie before, it's quite entertaining." Odin sounded dead serious and a laughed escaped her throat before she could stop it.

"It's not bad, there's better ones." Which when it came to crappy movies it wasn't saying much.

"I'll take your word for it. Doritos?" There was no way in hell she was saying no to Doritos.

Darcy was afraid to admit that it was actually kind of fun to do her marathon with Odin, he laughed at the parts she did, rolled his eyes at the corny parts and scoffed when something too stupid happened. It was Odin who recommended the second movie but it was her who pitch the third one.

They ate leftover lasagna, drank ice cold apple juice and discussed the pros and cons of having Christmas in a place like Hawaii because beach and warm weather? Hell yeah, but palm trees as Christmas trees? Hell no.

They were cleaning up when Odin finally said something about Loki.

"I don't understand your relationship with my son, nor am I starting to believe do I wish to, however it is important to me that you understand the delicate position we all find ourselves in." Odin looks up and down, like he's the first time he's seeing her. "I caught you unaware today, finally saw a glimpse of what Loki sees. I am curious as to why you hide? Is there a particular reason to not be who you are?"

"No." In her shock her answered came too quickly, too implausible.

"I'll let you keep your secrets for now because I highly doubt Loki is not aware of them. I'll see you at dinner." Saying so Odin walked out of the room, empty wrappers in his hands.

* * *

><p>Darcy was finally getting out of her pajamas when the family returned.<p>

She has just finished zipping up her jeans when Loki entered the room, he was carrying a garment bag over his shoulder and a shoe box on his other hand, he looked more relaxed than he had that morning and she was grateful for that.

She debated telling him what happened with Odin but she was nervous about his reaction to it, she was the one that had slipped and even knowing the jig was up she still wanted Loki to have his little scheme. Loki was obviously one of those guys who needed to be in control, lying to his parents was the only thing he had right now, the only way he had control over the situation and she couldn't take that away from him.

"This is for you." Loki said as he set the garment bag neatly on the bed and the shoe box next to it.

"It is? Is it a Christmas present?" She tried to open the zipper but Loki slapped her hand away, she pouted playfully while she waited for him to open it.

"Of a sort." Loki was smiling as he opened the bag to reveal a dress.

It was a beautiful soft green, the top covered the entire neck area and the at the end were green stones that made it shine, there was a darker green around the waist before the dress fanned out into two layers, the top one way was sheer and it had a million green stones hanging from it.

"You bought this for me?" She touched the dress and it was as soft as she thought it would be.

"Yes, for the party tomorrow. Jane did let you know about it, didn't she?" Loki fished around the garment bag and took out two jewelry velvet boxes, one smaller than the other.

"Yeah but I forgot." And Jane had promised her it wasn't a big deal, but by the looks of the dress had gotten her, it was bigger deal than she thought.

"Here, these go with it." He handed her the jewelry and she opened the bigger velvet box to find a gold chunky bracelet, it had tiny snakes on it all stack up together to form a curling pattern. The second velvet box had earrings, each earring was an individual golden snake curled up into itself to make a knot, in the middle was a tiny green gem stone.

"These are beautiful. Snakes though?" She touched one of the earrings, it was smooth and cool to the touch.

"They're my favorite." Loki told her as he opened the shoe box.

The shoes were a golden color just like the jewelry, they were strap heels shoes and to her relief the heel only look around two inches long.

All together it looked like a beautiful, classy ensemble and she was actually very excited to wear it.

"Do you like it?" Loki sat down next to the garment bag and ran a finger down the fabric.

"I love it, Loki this is amazing. Thank you." It was the most gorgeous thing someone had given her and though she didn't wear a lot of dresses, she felt this one fit her to a T.

"You deserve it after all the stuff I put you through the last couple of days." It was kind of painful to see the self-hate still there.

"I agreed to all this." Which is why she was going to read the fine print in all her documents from now on.

"Still, I would prefer it if you could at least enjoy yourself at the party tomorrow before we get back to business." Loki gave her a tight smile and she remembered how much hurt there was hiding underneath the hurt and the hatred.

"I'll try." She would try, if not for him than for herself.

"How was your day?" He asked her as he put her dress and shoes away in the closet.

"Good, saw a bunch of crappy Christmas movies. How was yours?" She nervously placed the jewelry in his hands when he came back to her, he gave her a confused smile but put the jewelry in one of the drawers in the nightstand next to her side of the bed.

"Good, the twins didn't behave of course but it's always amusing to see Jane run after them." Loki chuckled, a twinkle in his eyes told her the little devils probably got a little help with the misbehaving.

"Really? You would think with Thor and Jane's as parents those two would be perfect angels." She told him innocently, the smile in his face widen.

"Darcy are you accusing me of something?" Loki looked scandalized and she tried to hold onto her innocent face while she tried not to laugh.

"No, no one said anything about the uncle who taught them how to use elastic bands as instruments of torture." Seriously her arms would never recover.

"I was unaware elastic bands had any other function." Loki winked at her and she relented her efforts not to laugh.

She was still laughing when the two little devils ran into the room and began to jump on the bed, waving their hands in the air and screaming.

"Dinner! Dinner!" Erik and Ethan chanted together, Darcy backed away from the bed as pillows started flying.

Loki looked at the little devils with a calculating eye before he grabbed Erik by the waist and held him against his chest as he ran out of the room.

Ethan gave a cry of war and ran after them, Darcy looked at the mess they had left on the bed before Ethan ran back in the room and grabbed her hand and dragged her with him.

He pulled them into the dining room where the rest of the family was already gathered.

Erik and Loki were being scolded by Jane about the pros and cons of not running around the house and breaking something, she might as well have been talking to the wall with the way they were both laughing.

Loki was holding onto Erik's hand just as tightly as Ethan's was holding onto hers.

"The trade?" Ethan asked Loki and she suddenly knew why he had gone back for her.

"Of course. As I promised, your brother for my girlfriend." Loki held out his free hand for her to take.

"Wait! At the same time?" Ethan said before she could take Loki's hand, he obviously knew better than to gamble with Loki.

"You catch on quick young one." Loki told a now smug Ethan. All four put their free hands out and waited as Ethan started a countdown.

"On the count of three. One, two...three!" Loki grabbed her hand too hard and she crashed into him, Loki put a hand around her waist to steady them which resulted on her face being too close to his. Erik and Ethan fell on the floor and starter laughing at their own misfortune.

She could _feel_ Loki's breath on her lips and it made her swallow a little harder, she was too busy looking at his lips but knew that his eyes would look as intense as they had when they were in the pool.

"You guys okay?" Jane asked them and both of them turned to look at her, Darcy wondered what Jane saw because she suddenly blushed and turned to look at the little devils.

She moved a step back and Loki let her go and she was once again berating herself for falling for the intensity of it.

"Dinner is ready." Frigga was standing next to Odin by the entrance to the kitchen, to her surprise they didn't look mad. Frigga smiled an untroubled smile and Odin gave them an amused look.

Loki gave her a confused look since his parents weren't reacting the way they usually did. She shrugged and pretended not to know why her treatment had changed.

The dinner was better this time around, she and Jane talked across the table and the little devils asked all kind of questions about Santa Claus and Christmas which everyone at the table kindly answered.

"Aunt Darcy are reindeer real?" Erik asked her and she let her fork fall back to her mashed potatoes, organic of course, and stared at him because she had completely forgotten about _that_.

"Erik, why are calling her Aunt Darcy?" Jane beat her to the question, Jane looked as confused about it as her.

"Uncle Loki said he would give us a reward if we did stuff to make grandpa mad. Aunt Darcy made him mad so we started calling her Aunt Darcy to make him more mad and get a bigger reward." Ethan said with all the logic a kid needed and all the bluntness of one too. Darcy was reminded why she like kids so much.

Erik nodded in gleeful agreement.

The entire table turned to look at Loki.

"What? Are any of you honestly surprised I did that?" He said indifferently as he kept on eating.

"So Aunt Darcy are reindeer real or not?"

* * *

><p><strong>There's a link on my profile for the dress if anyone is interested. <strong>

**A boyfriend for Christmas is what inspired this story so I had to mention it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**All mistakes are mine.**

* * *

><p>The next morning Darcy woke up to a flurry of activity.<p>

Loki was already out of bed by the time she woke up but a lingering warmth next to her body told her Loki didn't sleep on his side like he was suppose to. The room was dark but she could see the sun peeking through the green curtains, she didn't want to get up but a glimpse at her phone told her it was almost noon.

She was barely out of the shower when the frantic knocking on her door started.

"You're not even dressed!" Jane told her before storming into the room and going into the closet. Darcy decided not to questioned it and instead she sat down to put lotion on her freshly shaved legs.

"Jane, feel my legs." She said when Jane came out, granted she had shaved two days before but the feeling was amazing every time.

"Put these one, don't wear shoes." Jane rolled her eyes at her and threw some sweatpants and one of Loki's white shirts on the bed, she noted that Jane was wearing something similar. Darcy was already wearing underwear so thankfully they were both spare the awkward underwear drawer talk.

Once she was dressed, she walked with Jane to the farthest door at the other end of the long hall of rooms. Jane knocked before someone in a white uniform opened the door a fraction and poke their head out.

"Sorry we're late." Jane told the lady in the uniform before she opened the door all the way and let them in.

Inside was what Darcy could only describe as a missing part of a hair salon. There were two hair stations on the corner closest to the door including the styling chairs, the tables already had a collection of make up and everything from curling irons to bobby pins. Next to it was a shampooing area with an array of shampoos and conditioners and towels on a standing shelf next to it and in front of it were three pedicure chairs, Frigga was in a bathrobe sitting in one of them.

"I want to ask but..." She said as the lady impatiently motioned them to sit in the pedicure chairs.

"It's tradition, the boys organize the Christmas party and the women get pamper." Jane told her happily as she took the seat closest to Frigga.

"I want to say that's kind of unfair, but it really isn't." She settled in the last seat as one of the three ladies in the room sat in the stool in front of her.

"I do hope you enjoy yourself Darcy, Loki expressed his desire for you to have a good time today." Frigga told her politely and Darcy found herself nodding in agreement.

It was all pretty much a blurred after that.

One of the ladies put a mask on her face and cucumbers on her eyes as someone else started to work on her nails. She and Jane talked about nothing in particular as they both waited for their masks to be taken off, the noise coming from outside as people worked to set up the big white tent and decorate the inside of it was a nice background hum.

Frigga was the first one to finished with her nail preparation and she was immediately rushed to the shampooing station, Jane was waiting her turn while she was arguing about the shades of green and gold her nails should be with the nail person.

A girl in black slacks and a white shirt brought them a tray with finger sandwiches, grapes and different kind of cheeses for lunch, there was also a bottle of champagne.

Darcy munched on the cheese as someone started to dry her still damp hair, Frigga was next to her getting her make up done.

Before she knew it she was back in Loki's room, a little giddy from the pampering and admiring her hair and make up.

She decided on a curly side ponytail and her make up was minimal but her eyes shined with the gold eyeshadow. The dress was easier to close than she thought it would be, she had no problem with the jewelry and the shoes were more comfortable than they looked.

Darcy stood in front of the mirror as she inspected herself for mistakes but the only thing she could think of was how much she looked like the princesses she never allowed herself to think of when she was a kid.

She left the room and began to walked down the staircase, holding on tightly to the banister as the giddy nervousness in her stomach began to grow.

Loki was standing with a group of men in front of the staircase, his back to her and apparently talking because the men had their attention on him.

One of men noticed her, he was an older man and he smiled kindly at her as he stopped Loki and pointed up at her.

Her nervousness only increased when she noticed how handsome Loki looked in a suit.

The look on Loki's face when he saw her would be something she would never forget, there was a sort of awe on his face that she had never seen before, it made her feel good about herself and it was something she didn't want to forget.

Loki left the men to wait for her as she descended the last of the steps.

"You look absolutely radiant." He told her when she finally reached him and she beamed at him in thanks.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She joked and looked him up and down playfully.

Loki was about to say more but the men behind him interrupted, they wanted to know her name and Loki dutifully made introductions all the while keeping a hand on her back.

They were all older and worked for Odin's company and Darcy was fascinated to hear them joke about Loki and his 'very beautiful girlfriend'.

They all made their way outside and Loki lent her his suit jacket as an apology for not remembering to grab her coat, the walked to the tent was short and the candles lighting the path were picturesque enough that she didn't mind being a little cold.

It was warm inside the tent, the floor wasn't the soft grass but some sort of flooring that looked like wood and the decorations looked like they could've come from inside the house with all their gold tones.

Loki guided her to a table were Jane and Thor were already seated.

Jane looked beautiful in her red, strapless gown and Thor looked just as dashing in his suit as Loki did. The twins were nowhere to be seen but she could heard their laughter from somewhere.

Loki took back his suit jacket before he pull out her chair, which was next to Jane.

"People are still arriving so we have a while to wait before dinner." Loki told her quietly, putting a hand around her shoulders and letting his fingers ghost over her bare upper arm.

She tried to distract herself from Loki by looking around the room, the room was only half full but more people were coming in slowly through the opening of the tent.

Thor gave out a whoop when the next group of people passed through.

Loki's fingers stopped suddenly and she turned to give him a questioning look but he was looking intently at the group of people Thor excitedly stood to greet.

"Loki you better go too." Jane had a hard edge to her voice, one that Darcy had never heard before.

"I don't-" Loki started to say before Jane interrupted him.

"If you don't then Thor will bring them over here, pick your battles." Jane told him forcefully and Loki angrily stood up and went to meet the group.

Darcy inspected the group as Loki angry strides reached them.

There was a girl with long jet black hair, her dress was a deep crimson color that set off her pale skin and she stood with the confidence most women couldn't achieve. Next to her was a tall, Asian man who stood so still he could have been mistaken for a statue, the blonde man next to him though seemed to make up for his friend's stillness by talking with his hands and excitedly embracing Thor in a man hug when he got closed enough. The last man was a redheaded man who was wearing a kilt, he seemed so jolly she was tempted to nickname him Santa Claus.

"And they are...?" Darcy asked when Jane didn't say anything else.

"The warriors three and the Lady Sif. Thor's childhood friends and in Sif's case his childhood sweetheart." Jane stated, just like she did about science facts she wasn't interested in.

"And Loki?" Because as soon as he got close enough to the group, the entire cheery atmosphere seemed to disappeared and Thor lost his happy grin.

"They did something behind his back, Loki got angry and retaliated and apparently nothing was ever the same." Jane took a long sip of her wine and turned to look at the group.

"Sif bothers you, doesn't she?" Which she could understand, no one wants the ex-girlfriend hanging around.

"It's just...sometimes she'll give me this smug look like she feels superior because she had him first and she still knows stuff about Thor that I don't." When Jane sat the wine glass down again, it was empty.

"So? You have the rest of your life with Thor, she doesn't get that because he chose you." Thor was madly in love with Jane, anyone could see that.

"Yeah, I do." Jane perked up a little and leaned back against her seat with a little more confidence.

"I don't get to meet them, do I?" Because otherwise she already would have.

"Not if Loki can help it, his ex-girlfriend is the reason why they don't get along anymore." Loki was inching away from the group and no one was stopping him.

Loki was still inching away from the group when an older couple with a blond woman in a pretty yellow dress entered the tent and then shit got awkward, really fast.

Loki stopped dead when he saw the new group and Darcy stood up instinctively, to do what she was exactly sure, but something told her to help him.

Thor's friends looked equally frozen and Thor himself didn't seem to know what to do.

"Oh my God, that's Loki's ex-girlfriend." Jane said, standing up from her seat.

"Speak of the devil..." Darcy let her words hang in the air, she was unsure if going to Loki's side was a mistake because she had no idea what kind of woman Loki's ex-girlfriend was and how she would react to the new girlfriend.

Loki seemed to hesitate before stepping towards his ex-girlfriend.

Thor's friends practically ran to their table as Thor went to join Loki.

Jane put a hand to her arm, encouraging her to sit back down. She sat down slowly, an ugly feeling she had through most of her childhood rearing its head up, jealousy wasn't something she was okay with feeling but it was there now and she couldn't get rid of it.

Loki's back was to her but the hands on his back and his stiff shoulders told her he was ready to bolt, the only thing that seemed to keep him there was schooled politeness.

Loki's ex-girlfriend was smiling and nodding her head to what Thor was saying but the older couple seemed ready to run at their earliest opportunity just like Thor's friends had.

She and Jane watched in silence as Loki and Thor disengaged from the small talk and made their way back to their table.

Loki didn't say anything as he sat down again and neither did Thor and the next fifteen minutes were spent in an uncomfortable silence.

Thankfully the tent filled up quickly, Frigga and Odin were the last to enter and took their seats next to Loki and Thor to complete the table circle.

Ethan and Erik ran up to their parents and gave them kisses before running back to the table designated to the kids and settling down.

"Family, friends..." Odin stood and gave an entire speech but Darcy was so hyper aware of everything around her that she didn't listen to it.

The end of Odin's speech signaled the beginning of dinner, Darcy declined the wine and opted for the salmon instead of the steak. Loki was quiet through the dinner but the looks he kept sending Odin said he was going to riot as soon as the main course was over.

Once dinner was over and people started to get up to make full use of the open bar and dance floor, Loki attacked.

"May I ask, is Sigyn being here a coincidence or a casualty?" Loki's tone was polite and friendly, anyone who passed the table wouldn't suspect Loki was probably fuming.

"Her parents are good family friends and-" Frigga started saying but Loki looked too mad to even listen to her.

"Don't lie to me, they haven't been 'family friends' for years. Not since..." Loki stopped himself and shook his head before standing up and leaving the tent in a state of anger.

"Don't." Darcy said when Odin looked torn between going after Loki or staying. She got a surprised look but a nod of consent a second later as people started to walk up to the table to greet the family.

Frigga moved into Loki's chair and put her hand on top of Darcy's in a sign of solidarity.

Darcy was only mildly surprised about it, there was something super nice about having a motherly figure show support. It made her feel content despite Loki's abandonment.

She offered to check on the little devils when Jane made to get up to do it herself, with one last squeeze to Frigga's hand she got up and made her way to the smallest table in the room.

"Having fun?" The table had been cleared of plates and instead there was an array of board and card games.

"You want to play Uno with us?" A little girl in a frilly pink dress asked.

"I would love that but I have boring grown up things to do." She pouted and the little girl nodded solemnly.

"Grown ups are boring." Another little girl in a red dress agreed.

"I wouldn't say that, there are some grown up things that are _very_ fun." A man in a flamboyant red suit appeared next to her, she recognized him as the blond man from Thor's group of friends.

"My name is Fandral. Fandral the dashing to my special friends." He winked at her in a suggestive manner and she looked at the kids to make sure they didn't get the innuendo.

"I'm Darcy." She told him politely as she looked for ways to escape. The kids continued to play and completely ignored them.

"Pray tell beautiful Darcy, why have I never seen you before?" He asked as he invaded her personal space.

"Good luck?" She told him with a sardonic smile.

Fandral tilted his way back in laughter and shook his head like he heard the funniest thing.

"You have a sense of humor, an attractive quality." The closer he got, the more she stepped away.

"You know what else is attractive?" She side stepped him and turned around.

"What's that?" He asked as he tried to follow her.

"Not being a creep." Darcy waved before walking back to her table, or trying to as she accidentally collided with someone, she started to apologize before she realized it was Sigyn.

"I would like to talk you in private." Apparently Sigyn wasn't going to tip toe around whatever issues she had with Loki's new girlfriend.

"Umm...okay." Darcy followed her and Sigyn guided her to an empty table on the corner of the tent, far from all the activities.

"Somebody already told you who I am, but I like to introduce myself anyway. I'm Sigyn." She held out a hand and Darcy shook it gingerly, unsure of what to expect.

"I'm Darcy." She said as Sigyn motioned her to sit, they took seats facing the rest of the brightly lit room.

"You know I was very surprised when an invitation was given to my parents, we haven't been in speaking terms with Loki's family for a long time. My ending of the relationship with Loki is to blame of course, we were high school sweethearts." Sigyn gave her a small sad smile before continuing, "We did everything together, I follow him around everywhere and whenever when he asked me to, Sigyn the loyal they used to call me because I always there for him. I was madly in love with him all through my teen years, he was my first as I was his and I thought it would always be that way."

"But it wasn't." Darcy let her eyes travel the room as Sigyn composed herself to continue.

"No, it wasn't. He had his ambitions and I had mine, unfortunately they didn't clash well together. We went to the same university, spend the weekends together whenever school wasn't too much of a hassle but my interests changed and I wanted to be do something else, _be_ someone else and Loki started hinting at marriage during our senior year and I..." Sigyn took a deep breath and Darcy unconsciously took her hand in comfort, just like Frigga had done for her.

"I did what I had been meaning to do for a long time, I broke up with him and Loki...he just crumbled. He has always been insecure of where he belongs in the world and he has never handle rejection well, he became so cold to me afterward. I still wanted to be his friend but his coldness burned me and I walked away." Sigyn's eyes were shining with tears and she gripped Darcy's hand as tight as she could.

"That's not it though, that's not why he's so mad." Darcy's hand was starting to hurt but some sort of sympathy told her to stay put.

"Up until that point Loki was the only man I had ever been with, I wanted someone new, someone different even if it was just for one night. A friend was kind enough to invite me to a party in his apartment, I let go of my inhibitions and I slept with Fandral." And there it was, the reason for dislike between Loki and Thor's group of friends.

"Everyone at that party saw me leave with him, Fandral sworn all his friends to secrecy but someone slipped up and Loki found out. It wasn't cheating to me because we were no longer together but Loki...he was so mad, he felt so betrayed. His friend and the woman he was still in love with sleeping together. I don't know how he made it happen but my family was no longer welcome to any of his family's social functions and he destroyed whatever friendship he had with Thor's friends by making them pay for keeping the secret." Darcy could only sit in shock as Sigyn finished her tale.

Darcy didn't know Loki could be that vindictive, she also didn't know Loki was insecure from the get go and not as a consequence of finding out he was adopted. It put a whole new light on Loki's scheme.

"But you know, that was ten years ago. We are both different people now, back then Loki was a little boy too afraid of rejection but I like to believe he's grown up away from that. I saw him looking at you when you were coming down the stairs, he used to look at me like that." Sigyn smile wasn't sad anymore but hopeful, "Me and Loki can't have what we used to, I don't want that and I don't think he wants it either. Even through all that happened I still consider Loki a friend and I want the best for him and I think you are very good for him."

Sigyn let go of her hand and the sparkle from the engagement ring she wore was almost blinding.

"Loki's broken." It was easy to admit, easy to say what she had been thinking it since she met him. Sigyn gave her a surprise look, she after all didn't know about Loki being adopted.

"Are you?" Sigyn asked, like it was sanest question to ask.

"Yes." Because it was easy to admit it to a stranger who had just admitted her own faults.

"Well then, maybe you can fit your broken pieces together and make a whole." Sigyn sounded so encouraging Darcy was inclined to believe her.

* * *

><p>Sigyn was the first to get up and leave when Loki entered the tent again, she walked back to her table where her parents were waiting for her with open arms.<p>

Darcy stayed seated, she knew Loki spotted her as soon he started to make his way towards her.

"Were you talking to Sigyn?" Was the first thing he said after he reached her, he didn't sound mad, just defeated.

"Something like that." She ignored Loki as he took the seat Sigyn was in not a few minutes before.

"I wanted to apologize for leaving. It was rude of me."

Darcy turned to look at him, Sigyn had hope Loki wasn't hiding behind fear anymore but he still was, Loki was still a little boy living in fear of rejection but Darcy found she didn't care about that very much because she had her own fear to live with. Loki was angry but he was also kind, funny and thoughtful and that seemed to balance out the fear and anger.

Maybe Sigyn was right and they could be broken together.

With that thought in her head she leaned close to Loki and let her lips find his.

Loki froze for half a second before he wrapped his arms around her and let his lips move with hers, it wasn't a deep, passionate kiss but Darcy still felt breathless when it ended.

Loki's happy grin made her feel weightless and as he found her lips again she decided to just enjoy the moment and let herself be consumed by the intensity that was Loki.

* * *

><p><strong>I actually think I could end this here but there's some stuff Darcy needs to say and some stuff Loki needs to hear, so there's at least 2 more chapters to do this.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**All mistakes are mine.**

**Warning: There is a brief mention of abuse in this chapter.**

* * *

><p>There was a pleasant warmth surrounding her body, she burrowed her face closer to it and the warmth chuckled.<p>

Darcy groggily raised a hand to pinch Loki on his waist and he yelped loud enough to wake her completely up, she giggled when the arms around her starting tickling her waist and before she knew it they were in a tickling war.

Her feet hurt from all the dancing she did the night before with the twins and Jane, Loki could only persuaded to do a slow dance and he completely refused to do the wobble, only laughed from his seat as she tried to teach it to Thor. It was a good night though, Thor's friends left early as did Sigyn and her parents so Loki didn't have anything to be mad about and he was more enjoyable because of it.

At the end of the night when everyone had gone and they were back in Loki's room her nerves were ultimately the factor in choosing to go to bed and sleep instead of doing something more interesting, Loki hadn't been mad about it he just kissed her until she fell asleep.

"Uncle Loki! Aunt Darcy! Presents!" Two tiny voices announced in unison from behind the door.

"We'll be right there!" Loki shouted back and the two little devils ran away from the door, she was already halfway up and reaching for a discarded bra to put under her pajama top.

They descended the stairs once they were a little more presentable to find the rest of the family already assemble in front of the tree.

"We waited forever for you." Ethan said impatiently as he clung to a present.

"You went to get us five minutes ago." Darcy told him, bopping him on the nose. Ethan waved her finger away and turned to give his mom a pleading look.

Erik was too busy sneaking glances at the tags on the presents to whine like his brother.

"Alright but remember there's plenty of presents, don't rush it." Jane told them, finger pointing at them like she meant it.

While the little devils opened their presents at the pace their mother told them not to, the adults were exchanging their own presents. Darcy apologized for the genetic gift cards and Odin and Frigga apologized for not getting her anything at all, Loki looked a little miffed at their apology and she rolled her eyes at him when he almost decided not to open his present from them.

He did so grudgingly, giving her an unsettling look once he realized what was inside.

Loki took out a manila folder, opening it and scanning it before passing it to her, Darcy was confused for a second before opening the folder and reading the first couple of lines. She almost dropped the eggnog she was holding when she realized what the papers were.

Loki's adoption papers.

"We know you need this, we know you feel like you need to know where you came from. It is your right to know, so there it is." Frigga told Loki softly, gripping Odin's hand tightly.

Loki didn't react just accepted the papers back from her and put them back in the gift box they had come in. Darcy was waiting for something, anything to let her know how Loki was feeling but he just picked Thor's present and handed to him like nothing had happened.

The family seemed to follow Loki's cue of ignorance because the rest of the gift given continued without a word about the papers.

Jane gave her the annual wacky pajamas she always did, this year it was dancing transformers which made them all laugh. Thor gave her a necklace with a pink tourmaline stone, it was her birthstone and she thank Thor with a hug for such a thoughtful present.

"Is it my turn yet?" Loki asked as the little devils finally finished opening their mountain of gifts, Ethan and Erik nodded from their playing and Loki finally turned to grab the last gift under the tree.

"What you always wanted." Loki told her as she excitedly tore through the wrapping paper, it was a medium size box and as soon she opened it all her excitement flew away.

Inside was the latest version of everything Apple, just like Loki promised when he hired her to be his pretend girlfriend, because that's all this was, pretending to be something she wasn't. Which he was masquerading as a Christmas gift to seem more like the whipped boyfriend he was pretending to be.

The reminder of their agreement felt like a slap to the face.

"So do you like it?" Loki wasn't clueless by the confused look on his face he could something was wrong but she just smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Thank you." Her voice was cheery and the little devils asked to use her iPad as soon as she opened it, Jane told them to behave and Darcy could see she saw what was wrong. Thor laughed a little too forcefully and he shifted in his seat uncomfortable.

"Great, I do have another gift for you. I'm really hoping you will like it." Loki dug into the pockets of his sweatpants and extracted something that looked suspiciously like a ring box.

The audible gasp from Frigga would have been funny if Darcy was sure Loki wouldn't go through extremes, but she didn't doubt him and so she opened the ring box with shaky fingers.

The first thing she noticed was that it wasn't a ring, she gave Loki an exasperated look and he just grin with amusement over the ruckus he was causing. The second thing she noticed was that were a ring should be instead was a key fob, there was no actual key but on closer inspection she noticed a wing like design with two words in the middle.

_Aston Martin._

"Loki did you get me a car?" She was shocked about it enough that she almost dropped the ring box with the key fob when Loki dragged her up from the couch, an excitement radiating from his body.

The rest of the family followed behind them as Loki walked them the short walk to the front door, he opened the door dramatically and motioned her out even though neither of them was wearing a coat.

Outside with a huge red bow was gray sports car.

"Behold, the Aston Martin Vanquish and it's all yours." Loki pronounced proudly as the cold started to bite at them.

She didn't know much about cars but she could recognize expensive when she saw it and the car in front of them was definitely that. She started to hear an angry rumbling from behind her and knew Odin was seconds away from exploding at Loki, which was exactly what Loki wanted.

Darcy look at the key fob and decided to escape as the yelling started, she ran down the steps in her slippers and slipped inside the car, she fumbled with the all the buttons but finally found the one were the key fob went to.

The car purred like a kitten and she was glad to feel the subtle vibrations beneath her, she waited while Loki walked away slowly from the still yelling Odin and slid into the passenger seat.

"You really didn't buy me a car right?" She asked hopefully as she put the car in drive.

"No, I bough this impulsively after I found out." Loki's spirits weren't dampen by the conversation because he kept on looking outside and his eyes crinkled with laughter.

"Okay good." So Loki did have some limits, that was good to know.

"Are we taking it for a spin?" Loki asked as she slowly started moving the car.

"Hell yeah."

Loki's answering laugh was music to her ears.

* * *

><p>They came back around lunch time, giddy and a little drunk on each other.<p>

Jane met them at the door as they ran back inside to escape the cold, Jane scolded them playfully for taking too long and shush them upstairs to shower and change into more acceptable clothes. Loki let her take first turn at the shower and she greedily took it, the warmth of the shower was nothing compared to the heat of Loki's body as they made out in the car like the pair of teenagers they were behaving as.

Frigga had a spread of salads and sandwiches for lunch, there was fresh lemonade too and she was happy to sit next to Jane and talk about the party, Loki had been stolen by the twins to sit with them on the other side of the table and Darcy had fun watching Loki trick the boys into eating their salads.

Odin didn't look as mad as he had in the morning as he talked with Thor about sports and both laughed joyfully as the little devils spit out their lettuce like it was poison. Frigga gave her a kind smile and Darcy appreciated it more than words could say.

It was nice and pleasant, it was also probably the best Christmas she had in her entire life.

It wasn't until the little devils excused themselves to go play with their new toys that things fell apart.

"I wanted to say something." Loki said as he took a sip of his lemonade. He gave her a look across the table that spoke of triumph and that made Darcy very, very scared.

"What is it Loki?" Frigga asked him tenderly and Darcy had a sudden thought that he didn't deserved it.

"I have been thinking about some things and I find that I might need some time to...help myself adjust to our newer developments. So I will effective immediately renounce my position with Asgard Industries." He looked so smug, so completely in control of the storming chaos around him.

"Loki! Absolutely not! I forbid it!" Odin was quick to get up and shout for all he was worth while the rest of the table sat in shock.

"Try." Loki whispered harshly, a manic glint in his eyes.

"Why would you do this? Why would you abandon Asgard when you are its leader?" Frigga's tone puzzled and hurt, Darcy shut her eyes so she wouldn't have to see.

"But I'm not, I'm just Odin's puppet." Loki's voice was a tower of anger, a tower that would collapse and take them all with it.

"No, you are our son." Odin insisted just like he had done days ago and still Loki seemed not to listen.

"Am I? I'm different, I'm not like you. You don't understand what is like, none of you with your precious little lives understand what is like not to feel like you belong."

Darcy's eyes opened against her will at his words, she looked up to see him standing there in all his self righteous anger stitched on every line on his face and she found that at that very moment she didn't care anymore, not for his anger or his hurt feelings or the broken pieces of him that she wanted so desperately to glue with hers.

"Say that again. Say that again like you mean it." Her own anger, one she rarely allowed herself to feel bubbled under the edges of her skin. Her chair made a loud noise as she pushed it back but she didn't care, she didn't particularly care.

Loki gave her a puzzled look and whatever rant he was about to go on disappeared with her words.

"Nobody understands what is like." And he did say it like he meant it but there was something else in his words that made her anger bubble up. Loki's words weren't for his own benefit, they were meant to hurt, to wrong his family like he felt he had been wronged.

This was Loki throwing a tantrum.

"Oh God, I'm such an idiot." There was an ugly feeling growing in the pit in her stomach and made her sick.

"Darcy?" Loki made to go around the table but she put up a hand to stopped him.

"Don't, fuck don't you dare. I never done this, I was always so careful and I made sure not to believe and not to be trustful of liars but I did it anyway, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I thought you were just hurt, that you just needed time to make all click in your head but I wrong." The sting in her eyes wouldn't become tears, not for him.

"Darcy listen-" Loki's tone was cautious, like he was talking to a dangerous animal and it made her even angrier.

"No! You listen!" Slapping her hands on the table felt good and the look of shock on Loki's face made her feel even better. "Do not tell me no one in this room knows what you feel like, because let me tell you something princess, _I do and then some_. You think you're so special because you're adopted? Well congratulations you're not! You are the exact same as all the other people who have been adopted, do you know what those are? You were _picked_ and you were _loved_ and you still are no matter how much you want to deny it."

"Darcy-" Loki tried for a third time and for a third time she ignored it.

"I'm not done, you want to know something about belonging Loki? The only requirement to belonging somewhere is _having_ somewhere to belong, you have that. You always had that but you have your head stuck so deep in your ass that you can't see that, some of us weren't so lucky, some of us never had a chance at belonging anywhere."

"Darcy-" This time is Frigga's tender tone that find her ears but Loki was still a ball of anger, nothing was getting through and she knew what she needed to do.

Knowing didn't make it hurt any less.

"Oh you still aren't getting it, how pathetic. Alright then let me tell you a story of a little girl. See this little girl lived in a nice suburban neighborhood, anyone standing outside her house would have thought she belonged, why wouldn't she? This pretty little girl. But that little girl didn't feel like she belonged, she was taught smile when someone asked her about her bruises, she was taught to always wear long sleeves just in case the cigarette burns her father left on her arms showed. That little girl thought she might belong in heaven, so she dreamed of going there because surely she couldn't belong in the hell that was her own home."

"Was the little girl okay?" It was Jane's soft voice that spoke and Darcy shook her head in answer.

"The little girl's parents died, so she was sent to foster homes and the little girl found that although no one gave her bruises there she still didn't belong. That's the thing about some of us Loki, some of us are still trying and some of us have stopped trying to find somewhere to belong but you?" Darcy extended her arms and ignored the tears falling from her eyes. "You have it all, so excuse me if I don't feel sorry for you."

"I-" Loki looked dumfounded and a little sad.

"The entire time we have been here you have done nothing but throw tantrums, nothing but behave like a child. So I'm going to ask one thing of you Loki, I'm going to ask to _grow the fuck up and act like the adult you are suppose to be._"

"I'm sorry." The words were broken but they meant nothing to her now.

"So am I." She whispered quietly as she made her way of the room without looking at anyone, she couldn't bare to see their pitying looks.

She barely made it back to Loki's room before she fell apart, like she hadn't done since she was that little girl who wanted to go to heaven.

* * *

><p>Her eyes were still puffy when Jane knocked on her door, she was too busy throwing things in her suitcase to pay attention.<p>

The second knocked was louder, she just shouted for the person to come in and Jane burst into the room, Darcy didn't look at her as she kept digging up her clothes from the drawers.

"You're leaving?" Jane's voice was shaky and Darcy only nodded.

"I can't stay here. I'm suffocating." Difficult as it was to admit the truth, Darcy knew it was the only way for Jane to let her go.

"I wish you would have told me." Jane came up behind her and gave her a tight, awkward hug.

"Well it's not exactly resume material so..." Jane's laugh sounded more like a sob and Darcy petted the arm around her in comfort.

"I'm so sorry I dragged you into this, Loki isn't..." Jane didn't finish her thought and she backed away from her and rubbed her face with her hands.

Darcy went back to her packing and Jane silently joined her.

There was a sense of familiarity to it, it felt like when they worked together. It settled her enough for the knots in her stomach to disperse a little, Darcy knew Jane was a good person and she had to admit to herself a good friend too, though the chances of things getting weird once they all got back home were bigger than she would have liked. Loki didn't go to the lab but what she had confessed in that dining room was hers to keep and she still didn't know how she felt having her boss know about it.

Maybe she would think about applying to others jobs just in case.

"I'll be right back." Jane left as soon as all Darcy's clothes were packed except for the dress Loki had given her and the accessories that came with it. That she settled neatly on the bed and decided not to think about the night before as she ran her finger through the fabric.

"Did you know that my cabin is only two hours away from here? I'll be there before the sunset." She said when Jane came back, she would be in her cabin in time for dinner time and it was surreal to think about since everything had been so good not an hour before. It was also an ugly reminder that her amazing Christmas had fallen apart before the sun decided to hide.

"Yeah about that, how were you planning to get there? Because we have an extra car, well two with the sports car but there's no way I'm letting you drive that." Jane put a key on top of her suitcase and Darcy shook her head.

"I was just going to call a cab, there's no reason for me to put you out." Though she knew how long the cab would take and how expensive it would be.

"Please, for my own piece of mind." Jane's smile was motherly and Darcy sighed in compliance.

"Okay, I should go." They both picked up a suitcase and went downstairs where Thor and the little devils were waiting.

"Do you have to go Aunt Darcy?" The little devils asked in unison and she gave them both a fierce hug.

"Yeah but don't worry, I'll see you back at the lab and there will be plenty of candy." She whispered to them with a wink.

"I heard that." Jane said grumpily and the little devils laughed with her about it.

"For all the troubles we have caused I apologize." Thor's apology came with a bone crushing hug that made her lose her breath.

"It's okay big guy, it wasn't that bad." All the goodbyes were making her equally sad and tired.

She was almost out the door when Frigga and Odin stopped her.

"Loki told us what he did and I'm so sorry he felt the need to do something so immature." The tears pooling in Frigga's eyes made all the rage at Loki come back.

"It's not your fault." Darcy insisted and Frigga shook her head before hugging her. Her perfume smelled of flowers and Darcy found herself holding on to Frigga longer than she probably should have.

"You are mistaken in that. As Loki's parents it is indeed very much our fault." Odin told her with a sort of resignation she never thought she would hear from him but there's was also some steel in his words, something that told her Odin wouldn't be given up on Loki just yet.

Despite everything she was glad of that.

"Text me when you get there and maybe on the way too just to make sure." Jane rambled on as they loaded the suitcases in the trunk.

"Yes mom." Jane slapped her shoulder and Darcy pouted.

Jane gave her one last hug before she stepped inside the car.

She had one last chance to ask about Loki but as she waved goodbye to Jane she decided not to take it, she strongly didn't want to _want to_ know where he was or what he was thinking, it had been a mistake to let him in and although it was her mistake she hoped that he would feel some remorse from it too.

She wouldn't forget Loki, not because she couldn't but because he would be a lesson to herself about falling for someone in three days. She assumed and prayed and hoped and it still bit her in the ass.

Loki would be a lesson because she was truthful to herself she didn't want him to be a mistake.

It would hurt less that way.

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><p><strong>I kind of rushed this since I feel like I'm late enough with it.<strong>

**There is a link to the Aston Martin Vanquish (google tells me they sell for around $300k) in my profile if anyone wants to see it.**

**One more chapter and maybe, maybe a small epilogue.**


	7. Chapter 7

**All mistakes are mine.**

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><p>Darcy would be a liar if she said she was fine, that was just the thing she texted Jane when she got to her cabin so she wouldn't worry.<p>

The headache she got during the drive was killing her and she didn't have any painkillers in her purse, the drive itself had been tiring and she just wanted to collapse on her bed and sleep what was left of the year.

She barely made it to the living room before she realized she was not only starving but also very cold, the cabin was quiet and as she turned on the cabin's heating system she cursed herself for not stopping for groceries especially since the nearest town was over an hour away.

The cabin was spotless thanks to the cleaning lady she hired to clean it year round, Beth would also make sure to stock the cabin with food if she knew Darcy was coming, she had canceled this year and though Beth had politely inquire for her well being Darcy had just brushed her off and told her to forget about the food.

If she had known how things would have turned out she wouldn't have brushed Beth off.

Darcy walked in the kitchen, blanket from the couch wrapping her still sweater covered shoulders, and she inspected the cabinets for anything edible. She found some cans of corn and green beans, which wasn't much but it would at least hold her until she could go into town the next day.

The freezer turned out to be her saving grace though because there was some frozen chicken and ham.

Beth hadn't abandon her after all.

She let the chicken to thaw in the sink and made her way to her bedroom where she kept a drawer with a first aid kit, an elaborate one since the cabin was in the woods and anything could happen in the woods, thankfully she found the ibuprofen right away and swallow two dry.

Darcy was still coughing when she heard the noises.

The thing about having a cabin was how dangerous it could be, there were animals and she had heard horrifying tales of intruders but she kept a taser in her purse at all times and that made her feel safe. At that moment though her purse was laying somewhere on the floor of the living room and she was bare handed and the sounds suggested a door was opened and there was no way that was an animal.

She froze when she noticed the silhouette blocking her doorway.

"Darcy!" The male voice shouted excitedly and she relaxed against the wall when she recognized the voice.

"Clint what the actual fuck?" Her heart was still beating a little too fast for her liking but Clint didn't seem to notice as he entered the room and gave her a hug.

Clint was her closest neighbor, his cabin was just under a mile away from her and unlike hers had been made by his own hands, something he was super proud of. Clint and his girlfriend Natasha had their cabin longer than she had hers and they were more adept at dealing with the wild than her too. The first time she had met them Clint had shot an arrow threw her open window landing perfectly on the bulls eye of her dart board, on it was an invitation to their cabin for drinks and dinner.

The arrow was still there except now it was used as a scarf holder.

"Hey, I didn't know you were here. I came to water your plants." Clint told her as he walked her back to the living room.

"But I don't have any plants." The cabin felt a little warmer and she took her to blanket and threw at Clint's ridiculous big arm.

"But you could." Clint insisted nonchalantly as he caught the blanket and threw it back at her.

"But I don't." She let the blanket fly past her and settled tiredly on the couch.

"But you could." Clint said again as he sat next to her.

"But I don't."

"But you could though."

"But I don't though."

"No hot chocolate for either of you if you don't behave." Natasha said as she left the kitchen with a tray of three steaming mugs. Darcy wasn't surprised Natasha was there too and her ears perked up at the mentioned of hot chocolate.

Natasha was less hyper than Clint though not any less sarcastic and having a couple who could both out sass her was not as bad as she thought it would be, it was actually a thing of beauty to see them fight to out sass each other.

"Okay so I'm not here to water your plants, I lied." Clint made grabby hands at Natasha and she slapped it away. Clint screamed obnoxiously in mock pain.

"Actually we're here because we saw a strange car and since you weren't suppose to be here, we decided to investigate though we figured it was you, hence the hot chocolate." Natasha handed her a mug and Darcy smelled it for all she was worth.

"You are a goddess." Her headache was already becoming less painful and the hot chocolate would hit the right spot, the company was good too and she hadn't realized how much she would miss the company after spending time with an actual family.

"I know." Natasha smirked. "So what are you doing here? I thought you had plans to actually celebrate Christmas this year."

The thing that united her most to Clint and Natasha was the fact that they didn't celebrate Christmas, both of them had their own obscure, painful backgrounds that left them without a family and without the neediness to celebrate holidays. They didn't talk much about their past, Darcy just knew Clint joined a circus when he was very young after his parents died and Natasha's parents were involved with the Russian mafia and that it cost them their life, leaving her an orphan and in returned they knew Darcy's parents weren't good people.

So they didn't exchange gifts or put up Christmas trees or watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it was just the three of them doing normal things though Darcy did prefer to be on her own on Christmas day. She wasn't sure why but solitude was nice once in a while and Clint and Natasha respected that.

They were the closest thing she had to friends, which is why she decided to tell them everything that happened.

She explained all very matter-of-factly, how Jane asked her to do it, how Loki begged her to do it and how she very reluctantly said yes. She told them about Loki's adoption and how it shattered his whole world, about the little devils and their Christmas tree and she confessed about getting too involved with a man who was not only broken but also unwilling to put himself back together.

Clint and Natasha listened and only asked questions when they asked for details, she didn't fall apart again and she was grateful for that. She didn't want to fall apart twice in the same day.

"We can kill him." Natasha told her, not bothering to raise her head from Darcy's shoulder.

"We could, we can make it look like he accidentally tripped over his own shoelaces and broke his neck...and the rest of his bones." Clint told her as he paced the living room, motioning with his hands to demonstrate how he would kill Loki would his bare hands.

"No, thank you." Darcy wasn't sure if they were joking or not, they didn't like to talk about their jobs and there was that one time when Natasha had shown up in her apartment in New York and asked her to bandage a couple of cuts for her, the cuts were a little too clean and deep but Natasha made her promise not to ask.

Darcy hadn't ask how Natasha knew where she lived either.

"That sounds like quite the mess though, Loki sounds like an asshole." Clint told her as he took a seat next to her, making it a little uncomfortable to be squished between the couple.

"He was sometimes but not all the time." She felt a sudden urge to defend him because he hadn't been completely bad, Loki had his good qualities too and those were the ones she had been attracted to.

"You were going to make food?" Natasha asked as she got up from the couch.

"Yeah, I should get on that." Her stomach growled in reminder and she only blushed a little about it.

"Don't worry, I'll do it. Daddy Clint is going to make it all better now." Clint could be charming when he wanted to be but mostly he was just a big ball of random.

"Never refer to yourself as 'daddy' in my presence again." Natasha told him sternly even as her lips quirked into a smile.

"Please never again." Darcy agreed, her own smile spreading on her lips.

"Party poopers." Clint dramatically left the living room and Natasha and herself shared a laugh over their mutual idiot.

Natasha helped her unpack her stuff while Clint cooked, she tried not to think about Loki while she neatly placed her purple bra in her underwear drawer.

She hesitated about Thor and Jane's gifts, she ended up placing them in their own drawer, out of the way and unlikely for her to open by mistake. She decided they were reminders and she didn't need any of those for awhile.

She had left Loki's payment behind.

Natasha linked their arms together as they walked back towards the kitchen without saying anything, she was grateful for the silent support, it was nice having a shoulder to lean on. Darcy leaned into her in thanks.

Clint was singing along to his own mental music when they entered the kitchen and Darcy noticed the two reusable grocery bags sitting empty on the kitchen counter.

"We brought you some essentials." Natasha told her when she noticed her inspecting the bags.

"You guys didn't have to do that." But she was grateful nonetheless, it was nice knowing she wouldn't have to go into town at the crack of dawn.

"And let you starve? What would do neighbors say?" Clint told her playfully as he expertly chopped an onion.

"Wait, where's my microwave?" It was kind of huge and hard to miss and right now she was missing it.

"Eh I might have taken it, ours broke." Clint told her sheepishly, not breaking stride as he started to chop a tomato.

"Scaring the shit out of me and taking my kitchen appliances, it's nice to know you're making good use of my spare key." She wasn't really that mad about it, it wasn't like she lived in the cabin year round like they did, she only went to the cabin for holidays and whenever Jane decided to give her an extended vacation and she trust them to put it back.

"He was making cup noodles." Natasha said, Clint shot her a look that clearly told her to shut up. Natasha grinned and kept talking. "He forgot to add the water, the whole microwave caught on fire. He then decided to throw the still burning microwave on the floor to stomp on it and stop the fire."

Darcy was still laughing when Natasha steered them back to the living room and away from the pouting Clint and his very sharp knife.

That night after the dinner had been eaten and it was time for bed, Clint and Natasha decided to use her spare bedroom for the night and as Darcy settled into her bed seeking the warmth of Loki's body she was able to keep the tears at bay knowing her friends were in the room next door.

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><p>New Year's day was a nice chilly day, the sun was peeking through her curtains and Darcy was glad to see it.<p>

The last couple of days had been trying but good thanks to the comfort of her own home and the company of Clint and Natasha.

She had gotten back into her cabin routing fast, which mostly consisted of binge watching TV shows and hanging out with Clint and Natasha.

Natasha persuaded her to do yoga while Clint sat on her couch ogling and giving them encouraging pep talk that made them burst out laughing and kept breaking their concentration. Clint had tried to teach her how to make Sheppard's pie with mixed results, though this time it wasn't Clint's fault that a kitchen appliance caught on fire.

Darcy was folding her newly washed clothes in the living room when she heard the yelling coming from outside.

There was a thump and a cackling laugh that was obviously from Clint, he only laughed like that when Natasha did something bad ass. Darcy wondered if she should peek but she stayed firmly in place and let them handle whatever it was, the last thing she needed was to come face to face with a bear.

She didn't wait long as someone knocked on her door, if she hadn't been so shock by the sight in front of her door she would have laughed until her lungs burned.

Loki of all people was standing in front of Clint and Natasha, who were standing behind him like two guard taking a prisoner to death row, handcuffs and all. Loki's leather jacket was full of dirt but he didn't have any visible marks.

"We found this wondering around, is it yours?" Clint asked her, glare directly at the back of Loki's head.

"I... why is he handcuffed?" She wasn't even going to ask where they got the handcuffs some things where better kept in the dark.

"Strange man snooping around." Natasha shrugged and give her a pointed look, she obviously wasn't happy with the new development.

"I was hoping I could talk to you, in private." Loki said for the first time, he sounded not the least bit fazed over being manhandled and handcuffed.

Darcy didn't want him there, she didn't want him intruding in her home if whatever he came to say wasn't she wanted to hear. The words were on the tip of her tongue before she noticed the pleading look on Loki's face.

"Please." Loki told her in a last ditch effort and she rubbed her face, annoyed at her surrender.

"Okay, yeah. Come in." She was seriously hoping she wouldn't regret it, she refused to look at Clint and Natasha in fear of their reactions.

"Would you mind?" Loki raised his bound hands and Clint muttered a curse as he let him free, Loki said his thanks as he slipped inside.

"It's okay, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do in order to move forward." Natasha told her before she could apologized for caving in, Clint sighed in agreement and both of them left with a promise of a call when Loki was gone.

She took a deep breath as she walked back to her living room where Loki was staring out the window.

"Jane has missed you, has do the rest of the family." Loki was still wearing his dirty leather jacket, an odd reminder to their first meeting with his family and how frosty it had been. A vast contrast to their last day together.

"I'll see Jane and the twins in a couple of days." She didn't mention Thor or his parents because she knew things would go back to normal soon and normal meant no Thor, Frigga or Odin.

And definitely no Loki.

"The last couple of days have been...difficult to say the least." Loki finally turned away from the window to look at her, the dark circles around his eyes were too deep and too pronounce.

"Are you okay?" She crossed her arms around herself and tried not to go to him.

"No, I'm not but that's alright. Are you okay?" Loki question was tentative, like he was afraid he broke her more than she already was.

"I am." And she was, she had gone through worse and at the end of the day she would always be a fighter.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. I realize now how insensitive it was for me to...try and hurt my family." Loki rubbed the palm of his hands on his eyes and shuddered a shaky breath. "We have been talking the last couple of days, trying to put all the cards on the table. I was wrong about a couple of things you see, things I took for truth before asking if they were. No one knows about my adoption besides my family and you, my parents just wanted another child so they picked me, you were right."

She knew she was right, Loki's parents loved him.

"Thor was encouraged to play sports and I was encouraged to study, I thought it was because they preferred him but they just wanted me to do things I enjoyed." Loki's eyes closed as he leaned his head on the wall. "I never felt like I belonged but that wasn't their fault, it wasn't their fault that I never told them what was wrong when they asked me to tell them. Thor loves me because I'm his brother, not because he has to."

Darcy walked slowly to the couch and sat down, an odd feeling growing at the pit of her stomach.

"My birth parents were just two idiotic teenagers who couldn't support a child." Loki's eyes were glossy when he opened them and Darcy felt the need to look away. "There are no villains here, no matter how much I wanted them to be."

"That's not a bad thing." Life was like that sometimes, sometimes there was no one to blame.

"No, it's not. I'm seeing a therapist, it is quite helpful." Loki let out a humorless laugh and she kind of agreed with it. "My parents had his number stashed away for awhile, we had a family session first before I did one on my own."

"As long as it helps." Just because it hadn't work for her, it didn't mean it wouldn't work for him.

"Did it help you?" Loki finally decided to take off his dirty leather jacket to reveal a light green long sleeve shirt.

"I never...I didn't need it." She felt uncomfortable at him asking about it.

"Oh I just assumed...after what you said..." Loki dropped his dirty jacket on the floor and moved to sit on the coffee table right in front of her.

"I didn't need a doctor to tell me I was an abused kid, I knew that." The reminders when she was forced to talk about it didn't help, there was no reason for her to go through it again.

"That's not what I...is that why you don't drink? You never touched a drop of alcohol, were your parents..." Loki let the question hang in the air and she leaned back on the couch, trying to put a little distance between them.

"Yes, my parents were alcoholics. Drunk driving is how they died." A little part of her was pleased to know Loki had noticed things about her most people didn't, but the bigger part of her was starting to freak out over having to talk about her parents.

"Darcy I'm so sorry, I couldn't imagine." Loki extended a hand and let it cover hers.

She tried not to think about how good it felt.

"No one should imagine." She wouldn't wish something like that on her worst enemy, no one deserved that.

There was a moment of silence as both of them struggle to find their footing with each other again, Loki ran his thumb over her hand and she tried not to think about stealing kisses when they were slow dancing.

"Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy that you're finally taking your head out your ass but I just don't understand why you're here." The question had been eating at her since she saw him on her porch.

"You know, I didn't pick your name out of a paper hat." Loki's lips formed the first smile she seen since he got there.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't ask you to be my pretend girlfriend out of convenience, I knew who you were long before you knew who I was. I helped Jane with the hiring her new assistant, I talked to you a couple times on the phone and even met you once when I went to talk to Jane in her lab. You probably don't remember any of that however. I just thought...perhaps the entire thing would be more bearable with you there." The apples of Loki's cheek turned a pretty pink and he looked away from her.

"I met you before?" Darcy was surprised to hear about it, she told herself Loki face would be something she wouldn't forget about so easily but apparently she did.

"Yes, though it did seem like it was a hectic day in the lab. Maybe you just didn't notice I was there." Loki's eyes were full of humor and she shared a smile with him at her own forgetfulness.

"So that's why you asked me? Because I would be more bearable?" Which wasn't exactly a compliment.

"The few times I talked to you on the phone you were kind and funny and I desperately needed someone like that in my life and at the same time I needed a way to irritate my parents, I tried to kill two birds with one stone." Loki let out a sigh like he was irritated with himself and his reasoning.

"I...thank you." She didn't know what else to say, her mind kept latching on to the fact Loki picked her because he thought she kind and funny.

"I did want to ask something else, because I feel that at some point we stopped pretending." Loki twisted their joined hands in nervousness, just like he had done when he told her about his adoption except now he was using her hand too.

"We did, didn't we?" It was nice knowing it hadn't been just her that stopped pretending.

"I wanted to know if...it was something you would want to continue?" Loki cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable at asking.

"Continue?" She didn't know continuing was a possibility.

"We'll all go back to our regular lives soon, Thor will go home with his family and my parents will go back to their daily routine and I will be taking my break and-"

"Taking your break? You're still quitting?" And after everything she had to confessed to make sure that didn't happen.

"Just a small break, just two months. Mother was right when she said I was the leader, Father is more of a figure head than anything else at this point. The company relies on me now as it will after Odin retires." There was a triumphant tone to his words and she wondered if he thought Odin wouldn't let him keep the company. "As I saying before, all of us will go back to our regulars lives soon, I was just hoping you would take some of that time for me."

"For you?" Hope blossomed in her stomach and it made her queasy.

"Yes, maybe on a Friday or Saturday night? Somewhere we can have a nice dinner and talk about nothing in particular, I would like that very much." Loki's smile was mischievous, it asked her to join him in it.

"You're asking me on a date?" She had to laugh a little at the thought because after everything that had happened, a date sounded so normal and mundane.

"If that's quite alright with you." Loki seemed delighted over her laugh because he picked up her hand to kiss it.

"Yeah, sure." Darcy gave him her own mischievous look and recklessly leaned in to kiss him.

She closed her eyes in anticipation and she felt Loki's breath before a throat cleared loudly next to them.

"First kisses are reserved after the first date." Clint was standing above them, arms crossed over his chest like the disapproving dad he was pretending to be.

"That wasn't our first kiss." Loki told him, pulling a scandalized gasp out of Clint.

"Well I never...Tasha the kids are misbehaving." Clint yelled towards the kitchen, looking for back up.

"Just make sure they have condoms." Natasha yelled back, obviously uninterested in Clint's shenanigans.

"Tasha!" Clint pouted as he walked into the kitchen.

There was a beat of silence between them before Loki finally spoke.

"Can we invite them to the Christmas party next year? Because I already have so many ideas."

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><p><strong>There it is guys, the last chapter! <strong>

**I'm so proud of myself for actually finishing this, I didn't think I would. **

**I want to thank you guys so much for your reviews, faves and follows they mean the world to me. I know I'm bad at answering but I do want you to know I keep all your comments close to my heart and I really do appreciate them.**

**I wasn't completely in love with this chapter but I hope you guys enjoyed it, the thing with the cup noodles happened to my sister when she was around seven though I was able to save the microwave unlike Clint. **

**I'm marking this as complete BUT I do have an idea for the epilogue, it's probable only going to be around 2k or less so please look forward to that.**


	8. Loki's side

**All mistakes are mine**

**This is Loki's POV for the story but the last part is a future POV which I consider the epilogue even if it's not very long.**

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><p>It was on the third assistant when Loki decided the whole thing was becoming tiresome.<p>

When he agreed to help his sister-in-law, he thought it would be a matter of couple of interviews and background checks before Jane settled on someone and everything was over and done with, however things didn't turned out that way.

The first assistant Jane hired was named Mark, he had a background in biology with an interest in astrophysics and Loki could see how much Jane loved to bounce ideas off of him, of course that was until Mark decided to 'correct' things in Jane's data. It had taken Jane two months to figure out what was happening at which point Loki had interceded and fired Mark.

Mark had thrown a tantrum and broken half of Jane's equipment by the time everything was said and done.

The second assistant Jacob was nice and polite and had absolutely no interest in science, his background was in business and thanks to the lack of available jobs had decided to apply for the assistant position. Loki hadn't known about Jacob's increasing inappropriateness in the workplace until Thor almost killed Jacob.

There was something to be said about idiots who tried to hit on a football player's wife in front of him. Jacob the sexist had been sent home in an ambulance, never to be seen again.

By the time it came to help Jane find her next assistant, Loki just wanted to wash his hands off of it.

"Her name is Darcy Lewis, she has a political science degree, a minor in computer science and she's straight." Jane told him as she passed him the resume.

"I'll run a background check but everything seems in order." He flipped lazily through the resume, his eyes only landing on her qualifications.

"That's what you said the last two times." Jane told him reproachfully and Loki turned to look at her with eyebrows raised.

"I do beg your pardon for those, my apologies for not predicting the future." Loki told her sarcastically.

"Here, let me show you a picture. She let me friend her on Facebook." Jane pulled out her phone and flipped through it before finding the picture.

"Already best friends I see." Loki told her drily, but Jane merely rolled her eyes at him.

"She's super nice and funny and the twins already met her and they love her." Jane said as she passed him her phone.

Loki's first thought about Darcy Lewis was how attractive she was.

It was a thought he would carried with him the rest of the day.

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><p>Loki's second thought about Darcy Lewis was how unpredictable she could be.<p>

Jane had missed their weekly lunch date, which was odd but not uncommon. Loki knew once his sister-in-law got deeply into her research she was lost to the world, knowing this he felt it was still prudent to call and make sure everything was alright.

"_Jane Foster's lab."_ The voice was soft and light, a bored tone sneaking into the politeness.

"Yes, hello I would like to speak with Jane if possible." He felt unsettled, which was an odd feeling to achieve from hearing someone's _voice_.

"_Nope, not possible Jane is in science mode and I'm not going to die trying to pull her out. The salary isn't worth it." _

"I'm sorry?" He didn't know whether he was asking or apologizing.

"_She had a breakthrough, which is great for her and all but there's isn't enough pop tarts and crappy coffee in the world that can take her out of it, I tried yelling Thor was here but she didn't fall for that."_

Loki was unable to stop the laugh that bubble up in his throat, his secretary gave him a perplexed look from behind the glass walls of his office.

"I'm sorry, who am I speaking to?" The smile hadn't quite left his face and he waved off his secretary as she stood confused by the open door.

"_I'm Darcy, Jane's assistant. Who are you?" _

"I'm...a family friend, could you remind Jane not to miss our weekly lunch next week? Thank you." He was quick to hang up, a tad spook to be speaking to the woman in the picture.

Going back to work proved almost impossible after putting a voice to the face he had been thinking about.

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><p>Meeting Darcy Lewis had been awkward.<p>

Loki didn't go to Jane's lab often, he had no reason to but there were rare instances when he did. In this particular case it was Friday and his turn to take care of Erik and Ethan so their parents could have a weekend to themselves.

Thor was unable to deliver them himself, so it fell to him to pick them up from Jane's lab, where they usually ended up after school.

The first thing he heard when he opened the door was a scream, which wasn't usual with the twins but the fire he saw was certainly a surprise.

"Put it out!" Jane was screaming to the short woman next to her as the woman expertly used a fire extinguisher.

The twins were running around the burning piece of equipment as if it was a bonfire, which was amusing when fire was put out and they both raised their displeasure.

"Oh you're here, could you just take the twins? There's a mess to clean up." Jane told him once she spotted him, bending down to look at the damage.

"Science sucks." The short woman declared and Loki froze when he recognized the voice.

Darcy Lewis turned around to face him but didn't look at him just walked by him to go to a desk, which he assumed was hers.

"It doesn't, it just has its drawbacks." Jane insisted, the twins finally spotted him and ran to him with happy screams.

"You say that every time something catches on fire, or breaks, or when you make me work overtime." Darcy Lewis declared dramatically as she slumped in the desk chair.

Loki wanted to say something, he wasn't sure what but he felt the need to, however his mouth was proving hard to open.

"Hey, I pay you for that overtime." Jane argued back as she kept on inspecting the burned equipment.

"You better." Darcy Lewis shot back as she opened a laptop and started clicking away.

Loki decided to give up the fight and retreat, he said goodbye to Jane and hesitated before leaving without saying anything to Darcy Lewis.

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><p>He had only been looking for a work document when he stumbled on the key.<p>

It had been a running joke between him and Thor to guess what was in the lock drawer in their father's study, their guesses had been anything from gold to a dragon. It had been fun to guess, though Odin reminded them that the drawer wasn't for them to open.

Loki had been rummaging through the top drawer for a lost document when he ran across his fingers across the top and dislodge the key from its hiding place, he had only seen the key once before when his father showed it to him and Thor to satisfy their curiosity.

He hesitated for a moment because he knew it was private but curiosity won in the end and he carefully slid the key in the bottom drawer, he made sure to keep an eye on the door as he opened the drawer because the last thing he needed was to explain himself to his father.

To his surprise the drawer wasn't full of important documents, he assumed those were in the safe, but instead full of trinkets from his childhood and Thor's.

There was the card he made his father for his birthday when he was five, the atrocious hand made bracelet he did when he was seven and more things Loki didn't think his father would care about. He was choking in his own feeling of gratitude towards his father when he spotted the official looking letter peeking from underneath all the trinkets.

He didn't recognized the name or the organization printed on the corner but the words he read when he opened the letter would haunt him forever.

_Regarding details in the adoption of baby..._

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><p>Loki hadn't meant to call Jane, she wasn't in his mind after the fight that ensued during Thanksgiving day but somehow he ended up dialing the number to her office.<p>

"_Jane Foster's lab." _The same soft voice he knew was Darcy Lewis answered and his hand clenched his phone unconsciously.

"I...is Jane there?" He should have just apologized for his mistake and hung up the phone but he found himself unwilling to.

"_No, sorry she's in a meeting. Would you like to leave a message?" _Like before her voice was polite but bored.

"No...I..." He cleared his throat unsure of what he wanted.

"_You okay mister?"_ There was something akin to curiosity in her tone.

"I'm...not." Loki wasn't sure why he said it, unsure why he would confessed that to a stranger.

Was Darcy Lewis a stranger?

"_Me neither, no one is really. We're all just pretending we are."_ Her tone was nonchalant but he could detect her own agreement to that.

It made him feel better or perhaps it was just Darcy Lewis' soothing voice that did.

"I...suppose so, thank you." He rubbed his face with his free hand and tried to spell away her face from his head.

"_No problem. What are lab assistants for? Have nice day!"_ Her tone was playful and that made him smile for the first time since the fight.

There was a moment of silence before he reluctantly decided to hang up.

* * *

><p>"You know, you're lucky Darcy agreed to this." Jane told him from the backseat of his car.<p>

Loki privately agreed but didn't acknowledge Jane's words as he got out of the car to greet Darcy at her front door, he didn't want to be nervous but he was and that burned him.

Darcy was wearing a tight dress that made him stare like an idiot, something she obviously knew by the twinkle in her eye. He escorted out, carrying her bags and trying not to look at her.

It hadn't been so hard two days before when he asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend, he was a man on a mission then. He was trying to convince her to do this for him and as forceful as he was, he was thankful she had said yes because he was convinced Darcy Lewis was the only person who he could stand for the next few days.

Loki didn't know what it was, why she had such a strong impression on him but she did and knowing she would be there with him made things feel less daunting.

He didn't miss the chance to touch her hand, mostly because he had never done so before. He knew he surprised her with the action but he simply tighten his hold on her hand as she entered his car and tried unsuccessfully to rid himself of the new sensation in his hand.

* * *

><p>Loki was unwilling to admit to many things, things he deemed unnecessary, things he didn't want to think about but as Darcy descended the stairs in the dress he chose for her he was willing to admit he was already halfway in love with her.<p>

There was something special about Darcy Lewis that he had never seen before, though he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was the way she could lit up an entire room without trying to, or perhaps it was the way she could made him feel like he was barely sixteen and discovering what a woman was but most importantly he loved how she could make him forget about the lies his family told him.

The appearance of Sigyn had been unexpected.

They hadn't said much to each other since he found out about her and Fandral, the betrayal had felt like a stab to the back and he couldn't forget and he wouldn't forgive. He wasn't ashamed of what he did to the people he called friends once upon a time, he didn't care that he ruined the decades of friendship between his fake parents and Sigyn's parents. What he did cared about was the lack of warning, the utter dismissal of Darcy's feelings by Odin and Frigga.

He had promised Darcy she would enjoy the night, he owe her that much but thanks to the appearance of Sigyn, everything felt ruined.

He didn't think about how monstrous it was of him to abandon Darcy until he was felt his fingers start to go numb from the cold and he finally noticed his surroundings. He notice too late that he ended up in front of the tall windows outside the pool, where just two days before he had almost kissed Darcy.

"Brother." Thor's voice reached him before Thor himself stepped out of the shadows.

"What?" His voice was just as biting as the cold was but Loki didn't care, he only cared about the perfect night he promised Darcy being ruined.

"Abandoning your date isn't polite." Thor told him in a mock serious voice and Loki let out an grudging laugh.

"Why is she here Thor? Why is she here of all years?" The timing couldn't be a coincidence, was Odin hoping for a reconciliation between them to get rid of Darcy?

The thought made his blood boil.

"We both know what it is Loki." Thor sounded disappointed and Loki couldn't help but be shocked by his sentiment. "However is up to you to decide to let him win or not."

Loki knew he was right and he walked with Thor back to the tent, surprise when he didn't see Darcy sitting at their table. Scanning the room he finally spotted the yellow dress that Sigyn wore moving gracefully away from the table at the corner of the tent.

Darcy was sitting next to the now vacant seat and Loki swallow hard with the knowledge that Sigyn had talked to her.

Sigyn was never vindictive, he knew that much and that wasn't his fear as he walked towards Darcy. What Sigyn was good at was being truthful and as he finally reached Darcy he knew she knew what he had done, that Darcy was now aware of how he destroyed more friendships that he could count and broken relationships that never had the chance the start.

Loki realized with a heavy heart that the woman he was falling in love with knew what a horrible person he was.

He apologized for leaving her behind, feeling like he had to say something after she confirmed her talk with his ex-girlfriend and he waited with baited breath for her to tell him something, anything to tell him how badly she hated him now but instead Darcy gave him an odd look before leaning in to kiss him.

He only allowed the surprise to rule him for a moment before he responded in kind, an indescribable feeling of completion running through him.

* * *

><p>Loki knew everything would fall apart at the seams at some point, he just wasn't aware that Darcy would be the one to unravel everything.<p>

When he gave his big announcement he had felt vindicated, so alive at their bewildered reactions and then the typical arguments had started but he didn't care because he already won.

Darcy hadn't thought so.

Loki had never expected all she said, he hadn't thought her capable of such anger. He didn't know about her past, hadn't really thought about it and he realized that was a mistake on his part the longer she continued to talk.

When he had apologized and she had walked away no one moved and he slowly sat down in his chair again, aware of his own failure and because of that he opened his mouth and confessed all the lies he had forced Darcy to agree to say.

He knew it was too late for that after he went back to his bedroom and Darcy was _gone_.

* * *

><p>"So tell me Loki, why do you think you're here?"<p>

Loki had been thinking about Darcy's words since she left, running them in repeat at the back of his head until he could remember them better than his own name. Perhaps she was right and he was lucky to have a family that hadn't abused him like hers had.

He broken down in his mother's arms after Darcy was gone and as her warmth engulfed him he wondered why he had wanted it to go away, no _to push it away_. His mother had begged him to see someone, to talk about it with anybody and Loki had agreed.

"I haven't...been...coping well." Which was an understatement but opening up to the old man in front him was proving harder than being opened with Darcy.

"About being adopted?" The old man smiled kindly.

"Yes." Loki felt the frown forming on his face, hadn't they gone through this not two hours before when his family was there?

"It's quite alright Loki, I just want to know what you're feeling so I know how to proceed with this session."

"I'm...not sure." Was his tentative answer, he truthfully didn't know what he was suppose to be feeling. Everything felt like a muddle mess.

He knew he needed to try harder for Darcy, her own suffering was beyond his and it felt almost offensive to not put her own pain before his. She had expose herself to remind him how not special he was, no matter how much he acted like it.

"Loki do you want to elaborate?" The old man still had the kind look on his face and Loki relaxed slightly at seeing it.

He made a decision then to try harder because his family deserved it just as much as Darcy did.

"When I was a child..."

* * *

><p>He refused to open his eyes against the harsh light coming through his windows, he wonder why curtains were open to begin with when he was sure he closed them the night before.<p>

Loki moved to the other side of the bed, a side he already thought as Darcy's, and tried to find some of the warmth she left behind. It was always a punch to the gut to find it as cold as his side, he still stayed there because at least the pillow still had the smell of her shampoo and that was at least something.

He had slept through the night thanks to the sleeping pills but he still felt drained, all the family talks he had in the last couple of days made him feel groggy and weak and he loathe that. The positive things were there too and he was learning things that he never thought he would, things that would have probably made growing up a little easier.

The night before as the rest of his family celebrated the new year, he finally opened that file on his birth parents only to find nothing special. They were teenagers, or had been when he was conceived, and in the letter they wrote to Odin and Frigga, they expressed their gratitude for adopting him and caring for him when they were too young themselves to do so.

Just two idiotic children not ready for parenthood.

Darcy had told him he wasn't special and for the first time Loki was starting to believe.

He had a sudden impulse then to go and look for her and ask her if she found him suitable now, now that he knew what she was trying to tell him. That impulse was with him as he descended the stairs in search of Jane, finally finding her in the kitchen helping his mother make breakfast.

"Where is Darcy's cabin?"

* * *

><p>Loki knew he got it wrong as soon as the door open and a redheaded woman stood on the other side.<p>

"My apologies, I must have gotten the wrong cabin." His apology was absentminded as he was already thinking of going back to the Aston Martin and looking for the next cabin.

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to be Loki, would you?" The redheaded woman asked, he was more than a little shock by the question.

"Yes, do you know Darcy?" There was something in the eyes of the redheaded woman that was making him apprehensive.

"She's a friend. I'm Natasha." Natasha didn't extend her hand for a handshake but instead stood still inspecting him from top to bottom.

"Do know where I could find her?" He started drawing back, the apprehension growing the longer Natasha stared at him.

"Clint now!"

He cursed under his breath as he tried to run back to the sports car only to be tackled by an unseen man coming from the roof.

"Gotcha!" The man on top of him said but Loki was trying to find the breath he lost during the tackle to really care.

The man pulled him up and he stumbled as he tried to get back his bearings, something primitive told him to run but then in the next moment the redheaded woman named Natasha was in front of him, gun in one hand and handcuffs in the other.

"Relax, we're taking you to Darcy but we're going to do it our way." Natasha told him calmly, like she had done the same thing a million times before.

"Hi, I'm Clint." The man holding him up said, peeking his head to the side so that Loki could see him. The blond man gave him a smile that looked a little too happy for Loki's liking.

"Front or back?" Natasha asked him.

"I beg your pardon?" He was sincerely hoping she wasn't talking about what part she was thinking about shooting him.

"The handcuffs? Front or back?" She asked him again impatiently.

"Oh I would prefer the front." He thought they might be less uncomfortable that way.

Clint made quick work of moving his hands to the front for Natasha to handcuffed, the whole thing felt surreal and if it wasn't for the promise of them taking him to Darcy, he would have fought them until his last breath.

They guided him to a path behind their cabin, it wasn't a clean cut path but they clearly knew where they were going.

"You know, we're a little upset about what you did to Darcy." The man Clint said and Loki would have turned back to look at him if not for the glare Natasha shot him, that warned to be careful.

"It was never my intention to hurt her." Which was true enough and he hoped the redheaded carrying the gun could see that.

"She's a good friend, we've known her for years. If it wasn't for the fact that she's vanilla, we would invite her to play with us." Clint said, challenge dripping from his words.

Loki didn't have to ask what he meant but he wouldn't raise up to the bait, even though the jealousy presented itself.

"Do you love her?" Natasha turned around too fast and she practically in his face when she asked him, a fire in her eyes reminded him that she was completely capable of using her gun.

He hesitated to answer, it was something he wanted to tell Darcy when the right time came. He didn't want them to know something he considered private and the thought of them knowing before Darcy did didn't sit well with him.

"You do." Her eyes soften slightly and she nodded at him before stepping back and turning back around.

Clint have him a little shove and they kept walking.

"Well now that's out of the way, tell me more about this pranks Darcy says are legendary." Clint told him in good humor and he stepped to his side and linked their arms like Jane and Darcy liked to do.

"Well..." Loki started tentatively but Natasha gestured with her free hand to go on and he relaxed enough to tell them about some of the mischief he had caused.

Clint interrupted him with his own experiences and Natasha inserted her comments when she felt the need to correct Clint's details.

It wasn't until they stepped out of the path that things got serious again.

"Tasha put the gun away." Clint told her in the first harsh tone Loki had heard from him.

Natasha sighed but did as told, as if to make up for the lost gun she went to his vacant side and took his elbow in her hand and then all three of them made their way to the slightly bigger cabin.

In what Loki assumed was a last payback for hurting Darcy, Natasha pushed him against the steps leading up to the porch, he stumbled and fell hard on his knees. Clint gave a merry laugh before they helped him up for a second time that day.

Loki realized with horror that maybe they were a little bit insane.

The pain in his knees wasn't as overwhelming as the relief he felt when Darcy opened the door.

* * *

><p>There was someone whispering his name on his forehead, lips as soft as the sheets he was wrapped in.<p>

"Wake up sleepy head before the little devils come find you." Darcy whispered in his ear and he let his hands search for her while his eyes remained close.

Darcy gave a yelp when he pulled her into the bed with him but he didn't pay attention to it as he started to attack her neck with kisses.

"If you give me a hickey Natasha and Jane will kill you." Darcy told him breathlessly and he finally opened his eyes to see her beautiful face.

"I don't particularly care." He traced his fingers on her hip but a knock on their bedroom door stopped him from going further.

"Uncle Loki! Dad says to get up!" Ethan yelled from the other side of the door.

"Told ya." Darcy smiled smugly as she tried to wiggle away from him.

"I'll be there in a second!" He yelled back as Darcy managed to slip away from him.

He attempted the reach her again as she swiftly stood from the bed but this time there was no warning as somebody opened his door.

Natasha didn't say anything, she simply motioned to Darcy with two raised fingers before she stood patiently by the door with a laughing Ethan by her side.

"See you on the other side." Darcy give him a fleeting kiss before following Natasha out the door.

Ethan left too with a reminder to hurry up, Loki leaned back against his pillow and tried to not think too hard about the day in front of him.

There was so much to do and as tradition dictated only the men could set up and plan everything while the women got pampered, it was already proving to be a hassle thanks to his own nerves.

He owned it to Darcy to make the day as perfect as possible, just like he promised her three days before. He didn't want to disappoint her and he especially didn't want her to regret saying yes.

He could hear laughter coming from the door where all the women were getting ready and he smiled at his mother's laughter as it seeped through the door.

Thor was at the base of the stairs directing the caterers that had just come through the front door, Clint was screaming something in the newly arranged living room and Loki winced in sympathy for the workers.

"How did you sleep without Darcy?" Was Thor's first question, Loki shot a glare as he moved towards the living room because there was no way he would tell his brother how much he missed sleeping with Darcy even if it was just for one night.

Loki could see there was still much to do when he saw the living room, chairs were barely being put into place and the decorations were still stashed away somewhere.

He held in a sigh and joined Clint in trying to figure out where everything was suppose to go and have a private talk with the decorators about the placement of the silk and flowers that were suppose to go on each chair.

"Would you mind holding your niece? I have something to discuss with your brother." His father shoved the baby into his arms before walking towards Thor direction and Loki's startled expression must have been amusing as Eva started giggling.

"Something amusing?" He asked her teasingly as he carried her around the room, inspecting the candles that would serve as lighting.

Eva was was barely ten months old but Loki could already see she would not have the mischievous nature her brothers did, instead she was sweet and reserved with all except her family and as much as Loki loved her she was also prove to be a painful reminder.

Her announcement into the family had been during the eve of his breakup with Darcy, just days after that Darcy left with a suitcase of her things and a note of apology. It had been a tough period for both of them, an amount of fights he didn't care admit about proceeding the breakup, of him asking why and of her giving him an answer. It had been torture to know it was his fault she had left, to know he had put his work so far ahead of her feelings that she felt completely ignored by him.

He hadn't notice how many dates he missed, or how late he would get back from work, back then all he could think about was finally having the company to himself and having to live up to his father's expectations, he had wanted to make Odin proud and in doing so he had lost Darcy.

They had lost all contact, which had been difficult because of her relationships with the rest of his family but they both tried anyway. Arriving alone at Christmas that year after having Darcy with him the previous two almost broke him, it had been five months then since the breakup and life wasn't getting any easier for him.

The night of the annual party came too fast for him and as he started to mingled with the guests he realized how alone he was, it wasn't just that he missed Darcy but Clint and Natasha had become his friends too but he didn't want to take them away from Darcy as they were her friends first and she had no one else.

The last thing he expected that night was to see Darcy there, it was almost like he had wish her there and as she walked towards him with a soft smile on her lips he knew he hadn't lost her after all.

Eva pulled him back from his memories when she slapped his face with her tiny hand, asking him in her own way to play peekaboo. They hadn't been playing long when Natasha came to claim her to get her ready, she also instructed him to get back to work and he begrudgingly did so.

By the time they were done and it was his turn to get read he was exhausted but more nervous than words could say, he went did everything without thought and was downstairs again as the guest started arriving.

Loki politely welcoming them with his father and brother by his side, he was not surprised when Sigyn walked in with her husband as Darcy had insisted she be invited. His relationship with Sigyn had change drastically because of Darcy, he would never had the same relationship he used to have with her but Darcy had made sure to friend her and to include her more in their circle and now their relationship was something more akin to nostalgia. They would talk about their past with fondness now instead of the bitterness he had taught himself to feel.

If Darcy had teach him anything it was that grudges would never help him.

"It's time." His father told him and Loki clenched his fists before letting himself be guided into the living room.

The sun had set and the yellow, flickering lights of the candles was the only thing guided him to his place in front of his family and the rest of the guests.

The music started slowly, a man with a piano and a woman with a violin were playing a melody he couldn't quite place but that was beautiful nonetheless.

Jane came first with Thor in her arm, wearing the purple gown Darcy had chosen for her. They took their places in their respective sides and Thor managed to bump his shoulder in solidarity, Jane rolling her eyes from in front of them.

Natasha came out after them, wearing her own version of the purple gown, on her own as Clint would be a little busy escorting Darcy. She too took her spot in front of him and in front of Jane as her position was a little higher.

Ethan came bearing the ring with the pillow and behind him Erik carried a reserved Eva who would sprinkle rose petals at her brother's command, she too was in her own mini version of the purple dress and Loki could hear the photographer snapping pictures.

Finally the music got a little louder and Clint walked in escorting Darcy.

Later Loki would denied that his eyes were bright with tears, but right then as he watched a smiling Darcy walk towards him he would admit to being choked up by the sight of her.

She looked ethereal in her wedding gown, something that reminded him of the first dress he bought her that first Christmas they were together.

As she finally reached him, he thought of her words when she told him it would be cheesy to get married during Christmas but it was their time, it was when they had met, when they had reunited and when he asked her to be his wife.

"I guess I'm suppose to say something here." Clint told them cheekily as Loki nervously waited for him to give up Darcy.

"Please don't." Darcy told him happily as Natasha sighed loudly from her spot to the amusement of the guests.

"I want you to treat her right, I have a shovel and rope in the backseat of my car and I'm not afraid to use them mister. I will break every-" Clint starting telling him in the dad tone he liked to take when he talked about Loki's relationship with Darcy before he was interrupted.

"Clint, can I get married now?" Darcy told him impatiently, something Loki could relate to.

"I guess." Clint conceded as the guests laughed behind them.

Loki was finally able to pull Darcy to his side as Clint took his own place behind Thor.

The minister starting talking then, Loki only catch every other word he was saying as he was too busy looking at Darcy. They said their vows and he put the ring on her finger with a trembling hand as did she and they both laughed together about it.

"You may kiss the bride."

And Loki kissed Darcy on the anniversary of their first kiss like he would never kiss her again.

The thunderous applause behind them was simply background noise as he continued to kiss Darcy, knowing that even if part of him would always be hesitant about his role in his family, he would at least know with every fiber of his being that he would always belong with Darcy and she with him.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's all she wrote folks!<strong>

**I won't lie and say I loved this, it started as a really good idea and now I'm kind of regretting it because halfway through I totally lost my muse and I couldn't write in Darcy's POV again no matter how hard I tried. I still hope some of you found it good and even great.**

**Thank you so much for sticking with me guys and sorry for the lateness of this epilogue.**


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